As President Joe Biden announces a new round of pardons and commutations—including several for people with marijuana and other drug convictions—a new poll shows a majority of Americans are in favor of clemency for everyone who’s been federally criminalized over cannabis, as well as broader drug possession.
On Thursday, the White House released a clemency list—with over 1,500 people either getting their sentences reduced through commutations or receiving presidential pardons for their offenses. A majority of pardon recipients were convicted for non-violent drug offenses.
While advocates are encouraged by the expanded clemency, they’ve argued that the pardons and commutations still fall short of Biden’s promise to release those currently incarcerated over cannabis. His prior mass marijuana pardons primarily affected those who’ve committed simple federal possession offenses, none of whom were actively incarcerated.
“I will take more steps in the weeks ahead,” Biden said in a statement on Thursday. “My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances.”
Five of the pardon recipients are people who the advocacy group Last Prisoner Project (LPP) has worked on behalf of, the organization said in a press release.
“We are heartened to see the President using his clemency power more robustly and are eager to see more action before he leaves office,” LPP Executive Director Sarah Gersten said. “It’s clear from the White House’s statement that the administration sees nonviolent drug offenders, and particularly those impacted by unjust cannabis offenses, as a critical category of clemency recipients deserving relief.”
An estimated 1,500 people are still incarcerated over federal cannabis offenses. And there were hopes that the relief Biden granted on Thursday, primarily for people who were placed on home confinement amid the coronavirus pandemic, would be more expansive.
“I am happy for the 1,500 people on home confinement who were granted commutations so they no longer have to live in fear of going back to prison for a minor rule violation. They can now move on with their lives,” Weldon Angelos—who had a cannabis crime pardoned by then-President Trump in 2020 and has continued to advocate for similar relief for others—told Marijuana Moment on Thursday.
“However, I am deeply disappointed Biden did not release a single person incarcerated for marijuana. There are only roughly 1,500 people locked up in the federal system for marijuana—the same number of people he granted commutations to today,” he said. “With only just over a month left in office, President Biden still has time to honor his campaign pledge. I hope he does not leave this promise unfulfilled.”
Maritza Perez Medina, director of federal affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), said in a statement that the president’s latest clemency actions “acknowledge what Americans have long known: that our country’s practice of doling out lengthy prison sentences to people for drug offenses has put lives at risk, broken families apart, and wasted billions of dollars.”
“In the final days of Biden’s presidency, he must issue additional pardons and commutations to bring all victims of our country’s failed drug war home. But we cannot stop there. President Biden can still play a role in mitigating the harms of federal marijuana criminalization through executive action. President-Elect Trump also has a crucial role to play and must work with Congress to reduce and end the senseless incarceration of people for drug possession.”
Meanwhile, a poll from Data For Progress that was released on Thursday found that 59 percent of Americans feel “all individuals with federal-marijuana related convictions” should be pardoned, while 63 percent said clemency should be extended to anyone convicted for simple possession of any drugs.
“This polling shows that voters favor executive actions to address justice system inequities for incarcerated individuals with drug convictions and those who do not pose a risk to society, but are more hesitant about politically motivated pardons,” Data For Progress said.
For his part, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said the president’s latest clemency action represents an “important step towards correcting the harms of the war on drugs and injecting much needed fairness into our broken criminal justice system.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) said in a press release that she applauds Biden for taking the reform step and “demonstrating the power of clemency to address systemic injustices, reunite families, and set our nation on a path to healing.”
“By taking this meaningful and historic action, President Biden is changing the lives of nearly 1,500 people and ensuring they can remain in community with their loved ones,” she said. “People on home confinement are disproportionately elderly, chronically ill, pose no threat to public safety, and have successfully reintegrated into their communities.”
Earlier this week, as Biden came under increased pressure to expand his marijuana pardons before his term ends, the White House said there was going to be “more to come” in the way of clemency actions in the “upcoming weeks,” without specifying whether that will involve people currently incarcerated over cannabis.
A main reason the pardon issue was a central talking point during last week’s press briefing is because Biden broke a pledge not to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, who was federally charged with gun- and tax-related offenses. After he announced that clemency, advocates were quick to reiterate the need for the president to free people still in federal prison over marijuana.
A coalition of 14 Democratic congressional lawmaker has separately urged Biden to significantly expand his marijuana pardons and issue updated guidance to formally deprioritize federal cannabis prosecutions before his administration comes to an end.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) are also promoting a drug policy reform group’s call for the president or future administrations to issue an executive order to ensure equity in federal marijuana laws and more broadly shift the country away from the drug war.
Meanwhile, a coalition of 67 Democratic members of Congress has separately called on Biden to expand on his executive clemency work in the final months of his term, citing his past marijuana pardons as an example of his ability to provide “life-changing” relief to Americans.
Biden also recently discussed his administration’s cannabis actions and reiterated his belief that criminalization over minor marijuana offenses is an outdated policy during a speech at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) 2024 Phoenix Awards Dinner.
In the background, the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana is ongoing, with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) kicking off an administrative hearing into the proposal this week. Based on the DEA administrative law judge’s schedule for the merit-based future hearings, however, a potential final rule would not be issued under after Biden leaves office next month.
As President Joe Biden announces a new round of pardons and commutations—including several for people with marijuana and other drug convictions—a new poll shows a majority of Americans are in favor of clemency for everyone who’s been federally criminalized over cannabis, as well as broader drug possession. On Thursday, the White House released a clemency Read More
