Elizabeth Warren calls for mass cannabis pardons

Elizabeth Warren calls for mass cannabis pardons

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is calling for President Biden to pardon a large number of people with cannabis convictions. The senator said in a recent interview that it would be good for the economy and racial equity. Biden has previously said he would do this but has yet to act.

“I want him to expunge the records. I want him to let people out. If you’re a non-violent offender [and] all they’ve got on you is a marijuana charge, let folks go,” Warren said. “States have changed their laws on this. We’ve finally admitted, this idea that going after marijuana in a war on drugs, gateway drugs—we just realized it never made any sense scientifically and was a way to really engage in a form of oppression of communities of color.”

Maritza Perez, director of the Drug Policy Alliance’s Office of National Affairs, told Cannabis News Box that Biden could help a lot of people by issuing pardons.

“A pardon initiative could be significant for the 2,000 plus people who are currently in federal custody due to marijuana law violations,” Perez said. “It would hopefully also send a signal to Congress that the time to reform our country’s marijuana laws is long overdue.”

Perez said that Biden’s handling of cannabis issues has thus far been “disappointing.” Biden has largely avoided cannabis issues so far as president. Perez said she wants to see Biden become more active with cannabis issues.

“We know that descheduling marijuana is the right thing to do and that it would have a tremendous impact on people of color who are disproportionately arrested for marijuana activity,” Perez said. “He cannot honestly claim to be an advocate for racial justice when he won’t even embrace marijuana decriminalization, a position that most states around the country and most voters support at this point.”

Warren, on the other hand, has been a leading advocate for cannabis reform, Perez said. Warren has been fighting to get legalization through Congress for years.

“This is the single best opportunity for the president of the United States to close the Black/white wealth gap,” Warren said in her recent interview.

Biden has voiced support for decriminalizing cannabis in the past but has not pushed Congress to act on it. Prominent Democrats in the Senate are trying to get legalization done, but the party isn’t currently united behind the issue.