'It's About Damn Time': MA Pols On President Biden's Fed Pot Pardons

MASSACHUSETTS — While President Joe Biden's declaration that he will pardon and erase the criminal records of thousands of people convicted of simple misdemeanor marijuana offenses under federal law was seen as dramatic step toward decriminalizing the drug nationwide, it was viewed more as long overdue in much of Massachusetts where the possession and licensed sale of the drug has been legal for six years.

"Conviction for simple marijuana possession has ruined lives," U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Salem) said on Friday. "It is fundamentally unjust and I have been fighting this for years, long before it became popular with the political class.

"It's about damn time."

U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Revere) said the decriminalization is as much as social justice issue as it is a judgement on the drug itself.

"For too long, simple marijuana possession charges have upended lives and had a disproportionate impact on people of color," Clark said. "Today, President Biden took a major step toward justice."

According to the White House, no one is currently in federal prison solely for "simple possession" of marijuana but the pardon could help thousands overcome obstacles to renting a home or finding a job.

Biden called the former mandatory prison sentences and lingering police records for possession part of a "failed approach to marijuana" that he said has upended "too many lives."

"My action will help relieve the collateral consequences arising from these convictions," Biden said.

Biden is also directing the secretary of Health and Human Services and the U.S. attorney general to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. Rescheduling the drug would reduce or potentially eliminate criminal penalties for possession.

"Legalize it," U.S. Sen. Ed Markey said in a tweet on Thursday.

A Massachusetts ballot initiative led to the legalization of pot possession and licensed sale in the state in 2016 when it was approved by a 54 to 46 percent margin. Communities were given the choice of whether they then wanted to issue individual cultivation and sale licenses in their city or town.

Pot dispensaries began operating in Massachusetts in 2018 with the first one opening its doors in Northampton on Nov. 20, 2018.

Recreational marijuana is now already legal in 19 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)