Warren, Markey Urge Biden To Pardon Non-Violent Pot Offenders

WASHINGTON D.C. —Massachusetts' two senators and a congressional colleague wrote a letter Tuesday to President Joe Biden urging him to use his executive authority to pardon all individuals convicted of federal non-violent cannabis offenses.

In the letter, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both of Massachusetts, and Jeff Merkley, the Oregon Democrat, wrote that by issuing such a pardon, Biden would be following through on a campaign promise.

"As a candidate for president, you argued that 'we should decriminalize marijuana' and 'everyone (with a marijuana record) should be let out of jail, their records expunged, be completely zeroed out,'" the letter said.

The senators argued that America's cannabis policies have disproportionately targeted Black and Brown communities, and they provided a history about how anti-cannabis laws were enacted specifically to target Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans.

They also noted that: despite "roughly equal cannabis usage rates, Black Americans are still nearly four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis possession as white Americans."

The senators also provided evidence to back up their claim that the policies keeping people incarcerated for cannabis offenses are increasingly out of step with the views of the American public.

To support that claim, the senators pointed out that:

• Nearly 7 in 10 Americans believe that cannabis should be legalized.
• Eighteen states, two territories and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for recreational use, all in the past decade.
• Twenty-seven states, plus D.C. have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis.
• Thirty-six states, three territories and D.C. have allowed for the medical use of cannabis.

"Our country's cannabis policies must be completely overhauled, but you (Biden) have the power to act now," the letter said.

The senators said the first step to overhaul these policies would be for Biden to "issue a blanket pardon for all non-violent federal cannabis offenses."

They also urged the president to show leadership on an accessible expungement process to formally clear the criminal records of those affected.

"(These actions) would mark the beginning of a reversal of decades of ineffective and discriminatory cannabis policies, allowing Americans to return to their communities, find housings and jobs, and rebuild their lives without the burdens of an unjustly imposed criminal record," the senators wrote.