When current United States President Joe Biden was a candidate on the campaign trail in 2020, he pledged to expunge prior federal cannabis convictions, and with it, free federal cannabis prisoners. Cannabis is now legal for adult use in over a third of all states, and cannabis is legal for medical use in some form in almost every state. Polling shows that a supermajority of U.S. voters supports federal legalization.
With that in mind, President Biden making good on his campaign promise would not exactly be a bold move. However, President Biden’s first year in office resulted in no such action, and now that he is in his second year the tone from the White House seems to have changed. Many Biden supporters now seem to be clinging to the flawed argument that ‘President Biden is too busy to free cannabis prisoners.’
People making that argument try hard to convince voters that freeing cannabis prisoners is a low priority, that there are more important things to focus on, and that somehow the President of the United States and his staff are not capable of multitasking when it comes to one of the most popular and necessary executive actions Biden could take.
Is President Biden Really Too Busy?
Being the President of the United States is a tough job and no doubt makes the incumbent a very busy person. After all, there are many problems in the United States and throughout the world to try to tackle. With that being said, the President of the United States has a lot of help. There are literally thousands of people paid to help carry out the President’s wishes.
If President Biden truly wanted to free cannabis prisoners, all he would have to do is express that to his staff and they would dial up an executive action for him to sign off on. President Biden’s involvement in the process would be very minimal, and it’s likely that his staff already have a template that they could punch information into. It’s not a heavy lift for the White House if the desire is truly there, regardless of what anyone says.
Urge President Biden To Make Good On His Pledge
NORML is demanding that President Biden use his executive authority to issue a blanket pardon for all of those who currently are suffering the collateral consequences of having a non-violent, federal marijuana conviction on their records.
Recent polling reveals that a broad majority of Americans support expunging marijuana records. 70 percent of respondents favor expunging the criminal records of those with marijuana-related convictions. This support included majorities of Democrats (81 percent), Independents (69 percent), and Republicans (57 percent).
NORML has launched a public petition to show public support for this effort, which has already been signed by 20,000 individuals. You can view the petition here.