“It’s time that we right these wrongs.”- President Joe Biden Stated

President Joe Biden

“It’s time that we right these wrongs.”

Today, President Joe Biden pardoned thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law — and he said this was just the first step to the end of the Federal government’s “failed approach” to marijuana.

As the chair of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Board of Directors, I say, “Bravo!” And on behalf of my colleagues at NORML, all advocates of drug policy reform, champions of civil liberties, and all those fighting racism and mass incarceration in our country, I’d like to thank our president.

Today’s statement from President Biden reads like a direct response to what we’ve been advocating for at NORML for many years. And with the adult recreational use of marijuana already legal in 19 states — and another four or five states likely to legalize this year — this is common sense and long overdue.

Stating — as he should — that current limitations on trafficking and selling marijuana to underage Americans will stay in place, President Biden laid out three exciting steps forward that are all big news:

1) Pardon all prior Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana.

2) Urge all Governors to do the same in their states.

3) Review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. (Since President Nixon declared his “War on Drugs” in 1971, marijuana has been classified next to drugs like heroin in Schedule I, the classification meant for the most dangerous substances. Hippies didn’t like his actual war...and he didn’t like hippies.)

Next week, I fly to Washington, DC, for a NORML board meeting. After that, I’ll be dedicating a solid week of my time to advocacy work in five states that will have marijuana legalization on the ballot this November: Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Every two years, I do what I can to expand the ever-growing list of states that have decided to take crime out of the marijuana equation; turn thriving black markets into highly taxed and highly regulated legal markets; redirect limited law enforcement resources to more important matters; end the inherent racism in their current marijuana laws, and recognize the basic truth that if I, a churchgoing, taxpaying, kid-raising American citizen — or if any other American adult of any stripe — works hard all day and wants to go home, smoke a joint, and just stare at the fireplace for three hours…that’s our civil liberty!

If you agree, I invite you to learn more at www.norml.org and join us in this noble cause.