Senators urge Biden to pardon all non-violent cannabis crimes |

Elizabeth Warren and two other Democratic Senators criticize “over a century of failed and racist cannabis policies” and urge President Joe Biden to use his executive powers to “pardon anyone convicted of nonviolent cannabis offenses, whether previously or currently incarcerated are”.

Warren, the senior senator from Massachusetts, noted this in a letter to Biden on Tuesday. Warren’s Bay State Senator Ed Markey and Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley also signed the letter.

“America’s cannabis policy has punished black and brown communities for too long. From the turn of the 20th century, states passed anti-cannabis laws to target Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans, ”wrote the three senators. “By 1937, the fight against cannabis – supported by a high profile campaign based on racist tropes – had escalated into a federal ban.

“In the 1970s, President Nixon launched the war on drugs against the objections of his own advisors and experts, creating mass incarceration policies with devastating effects on the families of blacks and browns. Despite legalization efforts across the country and roughly equal cannabis use rates, black Americans are still almost four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis possession as white Americans. “

The Democratic trio also came up with receipts pointing to mountains of survey data showing a record number of Americans supporting marijuana legalization.

“This policy is increasingly in line with the views of the American public. Almost seven in ten Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, ”the senators wrote. “Eighteen states, two territories, and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational cannabis for the past decade.

“Twenty-seven states – from New York to North Dakota – plus DC have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis,” they continued. “Thirty-six states, three territories, and DC have approved the medicinal use of cannabis. And a number of tribal governments have legalized cannabis for various purposes. “

But despite all of this evidence of solid public support for marijuana reform, Biden has so far resisted the idea of ​​full legalization. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in July that the president remains opposed to a lifting of the cannabis ban.

Last year, however, Biden had campaigned to support the decriminalization of marijuana and the deletion of records and the release from prison of those convicted of cannabis.

Warren and her colleagues noted this election promise in their letter to Biden on Tuesday.

“Our country’s cannabis policy needs a complete overhaul, but you now have the power to act: You can and should give blanket pardons for all federal non-violent cannabis violations, keep your promises to the American people, and change the lives of dozens of thousands by Americans, ”they wrote.

“As a presidential candidate, you argued, ‘We should decriminalize marijuana’ and ‘Everyone’ [with a marijuana record] should be released from prison, their records erased, completely zeroed. ‘ The first and easiest step in this process is a blanket pardon. The Constitution gives you the power to pardon broad layers of Americans in order to correct widespread injustice, as previous presidents have done.

Most importantly, such a pardon – combined with your guidance in an accessible deletion process to formalize the criminal record – would mark the beginning of a reversal of decades of ineffective and discriminatory cannabis policies that will allow Americans to return to their communities, apartment and find work and rebuild their lives without the burdens of an illegally imposed criminal record. “

The senators urged President Biden to keep once and for all the election promise he had made during the election campaign. “We urge you to act quickly on behalf of the countless Americans who are being punished by the country’s pointless cannabis laws,” they added. “Thank you for your attention on this important matter.”