On the 6th of October U.S President Joe Biden issued federal pardons to people who have been convicted for ‘simple possession’ of marijuana. Thousands of people are said to be pardoned however there are a few cons with the grand news.
The good side about it is that people who were wrongfully put in prison for simple possession will now be pardoned yet White House officials said, there is no one currently in federal prison solely for simple possession of cannabis. Too add to this, stories have arisen about certain people being left out from this pardon.
The Washington Post recently released an article about a man called Edwin Rubis, who has spent more than two decades in federal prison for his involvement in a cannabis distribution conspiracy. He is one of a few people to not be included in this pardon.
The Washington Post explained how Edwin stated, “I don’t belong in prison any longer, I might have belonged in prison when I first came in, the first 2, 3, 4 years, but I have done so many things that the system has asked me to do. I believe I’m truly rehabilitated.” It has also caused upset from people who think negatively about marijuana.
With this, an organisation called, ‘The Last Prisoner Project’, a nonprofit working on cannabis criminal justice reform that lobbied the White House on this issue, has estimated that there are roughly 2,800 people in federal prison due to marijuana-related convictions, a statistic the organisation said stems from a 2021 report from Recidiviz, a nonprofit that uses technology and data to build tools for criminal justice reform.
The pardon that Biden released is a great step forward in the right direction as people could be denied necessary things like housing, employment or educational oppportunities. This also helps stop racial disparities as black and brown people are arrested, prosecuted and convicted at disproportionately higher rates. These were some words from Joe Biden himself but are also from statistics.
As cannabis and marijuana becomes more accepted, progress like this will follow behind it. It was something that was long overdue and will reap plenty benefits.
The White House estimated Biden’s pardon announcement would apply to the about 6,500 people nationwide who have had federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana on their records since 1992.
