This month, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, made the announcement that he would be pardoning anyone convicted of petty federal marijuana possession offenses.
The majority of marijuana possession offenses in the United States are committed under state law, thus Biden asked state governors to take the same action. In addition to this, he issued a direction to the US Secretary of Health and Human Services as well as to the Attorney General of the United States to conduct a review of the scheduling of marijuana under federal law.
These actions represent a significant advancement for the thousands of people, disproportionately hailing from communities of color, indigenous communities, and Latinx communities, who have previous federal convictions for marijuana possession and who face many barriers to employment, housing, or educational opportunities, as well as adverse effects on their families as a direct result of those convictions. In his comments, Vice President Biden acknowledged the “failed strategy” that the United States has taken toward marijuana and stated that “no one should be in jail solely for using or possessing marijuana.” This calls for a reevaluation of the decades-long, discriminatory, and prohibitionist drug policies that have been in effect at the federal level in the United States, and it may signal the beginning of a significant change away from such laws.
According to officials in the Biden administration and data from the United States Sentencing Commission, the action will be beneficial to at least 6,500 individuals who have been convicted of federal offences between the years 1992 and 2021. (It is important to note that none of these individuals are currently detained in a federal facility.) Such individuals who were found guilty of a felony and thus lost their civil rights will be entitled for remedies, which may include the restoration of those rights. A criminal record can be a barrier to obtaining some public benefits, including public housing, as well as career and education opportunities, the right to vote, and voting itself.
Despite the fact that black people use marijuana at rates that are comparable to those of white people, a disproportionate number of black persons are arrested and incarcerated. According to a report published by the ACLU in April 2020, black persons had a 3.64 times greater likelihood of being arrested for marijuana possession in 2018 than white people did; this discrepancy has worsened over the prior decade.
The presidential action taken by Biden is reflective of major shifts in both public opinion and the federal government’s drug policy in the United States. It is also in line with research and advocacy efforts that have been ongoing for decades by a variety of organizations that are advocating for rights regarding the drug policy in the United States. The Marijuana Justice Coalition (MJC), which is a partnership of organizations advocating for federal marijuana reform in the United States, is one of the entities that fall under this category. The Drug Policy Alliance is the driving force behind the diverse coalition, which also includes organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, BOWL PAC, the Center for American Progress, the Center for Law and Social Policy, Clergy for a New Drug Policy, Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, Human Rights Watch, the Immigrant Defense Project, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, JustLeadershipUSA, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Minorities for Medical Mariju
The organization fights for justice that is founded on the ideas of racial and reparative justice as well as reinvestment in the people and communities who have been most negatively affected by the war on drugs. Human Rights Watch was one of the organizations that initially joined the MJC.
Since the late 1990s, Human Rights Watch has been doing research and publishing reports on the catastrophic effect that drug prohibitions in the United States have had on communities of color. Even though white people and black people use marijuana at comparable rates, black people are much more likely to be arrested for simple drug possession, including marijuana possession, according to a report published by Human Rights Watch in 2016. This report documented that black people were much more likely to be arrested for simple drug possession than white people. According to a study that was published by Human Rights Watch in 2014, the state of Florida’s practice of prosecuting juveniles in adult court, even for marijuana possession violations, can end in felony records that prevent individuals from obtaining homes, jobs, or the right to vote. The widespread prohibition of drug use across all levels of government has been a significant factor in the growth of the police force: In spite of the fact that it has not led to any appreciable decrease in the prevalence of substance use disorder, possession of drugs for personal use is by far the offense that results in the most arrests in the United States.
Even while the marijuana pardon that Biden issued should be cause for celebration, the fact that it did not include many noncitizens was a major policy error. The prohibition of marijuana in the United States has a significant and disproportionately negative effect on immigrant communities. Human Rights Watch conducted research to investigate the long-term effects that minor drug convictions have on immigrants. These convictions can lead to imprisonment, deportation, the separation of families, ineligibility for asylum, and the inability to achieve legal status in the United States. The drug policies of the United States have had a terrible effect not just on citizens but also on non-citizens. In the same way that no one should go to jail for using or carrying marijuana, no one should be torn apart from their family, deported, or detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) based on convictions for simple possession of narcotics. This includes both illegal and prescription medicines.
There is still a significant amount of work to be done, including the descheduling of marijuana at the federal level and the inclusion of noncitizens in any reforms that are implemented. Both the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment Act (MORE Act) and the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), a bill that was just recently introduced in the Senate, should be passed by both houses of Congress. Both of these pieces of legislation would put an end to federal prohibition by completely removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. In addition, the states and the federal government ought to decriminalize the use and possession of all drugs for personal use, not just marijuana, as the state of Oregon did not too long ago.
Despite this, the presidential action taken by President Joe Biden shows that long-overdue progress is being made. Human Rights Watch is committed to maintaining its partnership with members of the Marijuana Justice Coalition and other stakeholders to work not only for marijuana policy change but also for broader drug policy reform. In addition, this is a significant advance in the appropriate direction.
Laura McQueen is a writer for MJGreenNews.com.
She has been writing for different cannabis websites and publications since 2018.
