{"id":9619,"date":"2022-10-06T23:06:44","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T23:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/all-federal-cannabis-possession-convictions-pardoned-by-biden\/"},"modified":"2022-10-06T23:06:44","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T23:06:44","slug":"all-federal-cannabis-possession-convictions-pardoned-by-biden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/all-federal-cannabis-possession-convictions-pardoned-by-biden\/","title":{"rendered":"All Federal Cannabis Possession Convictions Pardoned By Biden"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\t\t<!-- END .ss-inline-share-wrapper --><\/p>\n<p>In a historic move, President Joe Biden announced Thursday he will pardon all prior federal offenses of simple cannabis possession. This is a significant step toward federal decriminalization of cannabis and fulfills a campaign pledge to remove prior federal possession convictions and change the scheduling of the substance. Cannabis is currently a Schedule 1 narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He is encouraging state governors to follow his example. Biden released a statement explaining the decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,\u201d Biden said. \u201cCriminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. And while white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pardons will not include those convicted of the sale or trafficking of cannabis.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In his statement, he asked Attorney General Merrick Garland and Health Secretary Xavier Becerra to \u201cexpeditiously\u201d review how cannabis is scheduled under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. It is classified as a Schedule I narcotic with \u201cno currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.\u201d This classification impacts the legality of possessing the substance and limits medical and scientific research.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption><sub>Medical cannabis use is legal in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Adult-use of cannabis is legal in DC and 19 states.<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Biden noted, \u201cThis is the same schedule as for heroin and LSD, and even higher than the classification of fentanyl and methamphetamine \u2014 the drugs that are driving our overdose epidemic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the announcement falls short of full decriminalization, it will change the lives of thousands of Americans currently incarcerated for cannabis possession. \u201cNo one should be in jail because of marijuana,\u201d he said during his presidential campaign. In today\u2019s statement he added, \u201cIt\u2019s time that we right these wrongs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Header Image: President Joe Biden Signs H.R. 335, 2021. | The White House Public Domain<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pp-multiple-authors-wrapper multiple-authors-target-the-content pp-multiple-authors-layout-boxed\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"author_index_1\">\n<div>\n                                            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cannatechtoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Trish_Headshot.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cannatechtoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Trish_Headshot.jpg\" class=\"multiple_authors_guest_author_avatar avatar\" height=\"80\" width=\"80\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"multiple-authors-description\">Patricia Miller is a Managing Editor with Innovative Properties Worldwide. Her primary focus is science, technology, and policy shaping the legal cannabis sector. Follow her work when you subscribe to Cannabis &amp; Tech Today at https:\/\/cannatechtoday.com\/subscribe\/.<\/p>\n<p class=\"multiple-authors-links\">\n<p>                            <span>View all posts<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                                                    <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-email-alt\"\/><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cannatechtoday.com\/all-federal-cannabis-possession-convictions-to-be-pardoned-by-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a historic move, President Joe Biden announced Thursday he will pardon all prior federal offenses of simple cannabis possession. This is a significant step [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9619"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}