Dear John,

One year ago, President Biden issued a blanket pardon for those with federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana.

This is a big symbolic step in the right direction, but it goes nowhere near far enough, as it actually affects only about 6,500 of the millions of individuals currently incarcerated for cannabis.

This is because most federal convictions include charges of intent to distribute or other offenses. Leaders in other jurisdictions have followed with similar state and local pardons, but these have also been very narrow in scope.

Branding people as lifelong criminals results in long-term loss of opportunities for employment, education, student aid, housing, licensing, and the right to vote. Instead of focusing only on these low-level charges, real cannabis reform requires that we consider the majority of convictions on more complex charges.

Send a message to President Biden today to urge him to address deeper social and racial inequities and expand his pardons, including more complicated charges, to all marijuana offenses now.

Mass pardons are possible based on legal materials that have already been submitted. Even the most complicated charges can be addressed through implementation of a federal clemency board such as that proposed by the Last Prisoner Project.

Like the prohibition of alcohol a century ago, the federal prohibition of cannabis has been an unmitigated disaster. More people are arrested for simple possession of marijuana than for murder, rape, and aggravated assault combined, coming to one arrest per minute. Millions of Americans are imprisoned, billions of dollars wasted in enforcement and incarceration, and racial and economic inequalities have deepened.

Further, cannabis enforcement is racially biased, with arrests of people of color more likely than arrests of whites despite similar rates of usage. Historically, the criminalization of marijuana was based in anti-Mexican sentiment in the 1930s.

The economy suffers in direct costs, with almost $14 billion per year going toward the costs of making arrests, court prosecutions, and jail. The economy also suffers in lost wages, and for those who are released, a conviction makes it hard to get a job or get into college.

Legalization of cannabis, on the other hand, would benefit the economy, as it would create jobs and permit taxation of this lucrative cash crop. States such as Colorado and Washington already bring in millions of dollars for education and health care through such taxes. It is important that the economic benefits of legalization should go to the communities that have been most harmed by its criminalization.

As more states move toward the legalization of marijuana, and two-thirds of Americans favor it, the Biden administration has this opportunity to address the convictions of not just those with simple possession of marijuana, but those with more complicated charges as well.

Contact President Biden today. If he truly wants to fulfill his self-described intention of “Ending our Failed Approach to Marijuana,” he needs to go further and expand his cannabis conviction pardons more broadly now.

Thank you for working toward racial and social justice in cannabis enforcement.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action