Wyden, Colleagues Seek Additional Progress on Federal Cannabis Reforms Before End of Biden Administration
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he is urging the Biden administration to make further progress on the federal government’s approach to cannabis before the end of its term.
In a letter to the Biden administration, Wyden joined with lawmakers from the Senate and House to applaud the historic steps the administration has taken to lessen the harm of cannabis criminalization and push the Administration to take additional steps before the end of its term, including issuing another round of clemency and updating the “Cole Memo” to allow businesses and individuals in compliance with state laws to live without fear of federal prosecution.
“Rescheduling marijuana and the prior round of pardons must not be the end of this Administration’s historic work to use its executive authority to undo the damage of federal marijuana policy,” wrote the lawmakers. “As we continue to work toward legislation to end the federal criminalization of marijuana and to regulate it responsibly and equitably, we urge prompt administrative action to tackle the harms of criminalization — particularly for the benefit of communities most harmed by the War on Drugs.”
The Biden administration has taken landmark steps to reduce harm caused by federal marijuana policy, including through pardons for people convicted of simple marijuana possession and plans to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The lawmakers urged the Drug Enforcement Administration to complete the rescheduling process as soon as possible — also underscoring the fact that doing so would not end federal criminalization, resolve its harms, or meaningfully address the gap between federal and state policy.
“Possession and use of recreational marijuana — and much state-legal medical marijuana — will continue to be a violation of federal law…The Biden Administration has the opportunity to further reduce the harms of marijuana’s criminalization before the end of this Administration,” wrote the lawmakers.
The lawmakers pushed the Administration to promptly expand clemency for individuals with marijuana-related convictions — specifically, another round of pardons and commutations to reduce sentences or end terms of incarceration — and urge state governors to expand marijuana clemency and decriminalize low-level marijuana conduct under state laws.
The lawmakers also pushed the Department of Justice to issue an updated version of the Obama-era “Cole Memo” to deprioritize prosecuting individuals for marijuana offenses that have been the subject of federal pardons or that comply with state or tribal law.
In addition to Wyden, the letter was led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Representatives Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
The letter was signed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Cory Booker, N-N.J., and Representatives James McGovern, D-Mass., Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.
The text of the letter is here.
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