WASHINGTON D.C. (TIP):  President Joe Biden on Thursday, October 6, announced he will take executive action to pardon thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law. “Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” Biden said in a statement. “Criminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. And while white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.” A senior administration official said they estimate over 6,500 people with prior federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana will be pardoned.

Biden said he would also encourage governors to take similar action with state offenses and would ask the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to “initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.” Federal law currently classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, the same classification as heroin and LSD. In a call with reporters, a senior administration official said that thousands of people with prior convictions for marijuana possession are denied housing, employment or educational opportunities as a result. “This pardon will help relieve those collateral consequences,” they said