John,

Yesterday, President Biden announced he will pardon all federal offenses for simple possession of marijuana and he has requested the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General “expeditiously review” how marijuana is scheduled under federal drug law. As part of the announcement, Biden also urged governors to take similar action to pardon state-level charges of simple marijuana possession, which would impact millions of Americans. This represents a significant shift in Administration policy and has the potential to be the most significant drug policy reform since Nixon began the War on Drugs in 1971.

The Law Enforcement Action Partnership joins with you in applauding President Biden on this monumental decision.

Today I wrote of the War on Drugs in the Daily Beast, that  "few policies in American history have done as much damage as this racist, ineffectual, cruel set of laws that have distorted the goals of policing, produced exorbitant profits for organized crime, and criminalized millions of people needlessly and counterproductively...

As a law enforcement professional, I recognize just how far the impacts of this executive order and all it implies will reach. This is not a light at the end of long years of advocacy, it is the beginning of an era of better drug policy and sensible regulation."