States should follow the administration's lead because the vast majority of people imprisoned for marijuana possession in the U.S. are convicted under state or local law.
Marijuana laws are not working according to a senior administration official. The president is taking executive action.
The move, pushed for by advocates for months, brings marijuana policy to the forefront just weeks before the elections, underscoring how much the politics of the issue have changed in a short period of time. Two-thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization, according to polls. The effect may be limited. The number of people affected by this order will be in the thousands because most people in federal prison for cannabis offenses are not in prison for less serious offenses.
Biden wrote some of the tough-on-crime drug laws that led to the current incarceration rates. The only Democratic presidential candidate who did not support federal descheduling was Joe Biden. According to the administration, Biden wants to change cannabis to a Schedule II drug, which would allow it to be legalized for medical use. All of these positions were conflicting with one another.
Medical marijuana has been legalized in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Missouri, Arkansas, North and South Dakota, and Maryland are voting on recreational cannabis legalization in the upcoming elections.
Schumer introduced a bill to deschedule cannabis and expunge federal records. The bill does not have the support of the Senate. Grants would be set aside for states to expunge records related to cannabis.
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