This is a fundamental change in the country that launched the war on drugs and, particularly against marijuana, since the end of the years 30 and then in the years 60.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this Thursday pardon for all people with a federal conviction for cannabis possession and asked state governors to do the same with state-level sentences.
further, The president said that he will order a review of the degree of prohibition that applies to cannabis in the country, in a fundamental change in the nation that began cannabis prohibition in the late 1990s 30 and which later promoted its banning in the world in the years 60.
“As I said during my presidential campaign, No one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana.. Sending people to prison for that reason has affected the lives of too many people, convicted of conduct that many states no longer prohibit”, Biden said in his speech.
In 37 states of the country the medical use of cannabis is approved and, among them, in 19 Its recreational use is also authorized among adults..
He further stated that people who are not Caucasian -i.e., mainly African Americans and Latinos- are disproportionately affected by marijuana convictions, which, in addition to sometimes including jail time, can trigger years of legal consequences, creating difficulties in finding work and accessing education.
“Criminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed unnecessary barriers to employment, housing and educational opportunities”, Biden added..
Likewise, The president asked governors to apply pardons for state-level sentences, something that is not binding but can produce thousands of additional pardons, since the majority of convictions for possession are state.
“Just as no one should be in federal prison solely for possessing marijuana., no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason”, Biden emphasized.
Review the ban
The president also announced that he requested the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the attorney general “to begin the administrative process to review the consideration of marijuana under federal law”, some actions that could lead to a total or partial decriminalization of the plant.
“The federal government currently classifies marijuana as a scheduled substance. I, the same as for heroin and LSD, and stricter than that of fentanyl. That doesn't make sense”, Biden expressed.
Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. Hear from @POTUS on the three steps he is taking to right these wrongs. pic.twitter.com/IqOxHxjgue
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 6, 2022
Cannabis prohibition and the role of the United States
This announcement is a fundamental change in the country's legislation that promoted the prohibition of cannabis, first in the year 1937, with the disastrous “Marihuana Tax Act” what, in practice, criminalized production and consumption.
five years later, during World War II, the US Department of Agriculture. He promoted the cultivation of hemp due to its usefulness in making everything from ropes to hoses used by firefighters., passing through the soles of the soldiers' shoes or the parachutes of the brigades that moved through the air.
However, after this small “San Juan summer”, in 1961 The United States brought prohibition to the global level with the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the international treaty that established the bases that govern the persecution of cannabis and other substances in the world today, Biden's announcement may be a first step in changing the punitive way in which marijuana use is still approached in part of the world.
