Today, US President Biden is pardoning all federal simple marijuana possession convictions. It's not decriminalization but it's certainly a step in the right direction.
"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. "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."
From CNN:
He will also encourage governors to take similar steps to pardon state simple marijuana possession charges, and will task the Department of Health and Human Services and Attorney General Merrick Garland to "expeditiously" review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law[…]
Marijuana is illegal under federal law, even as individual states have moved toward legal use for recreational and medical purposes. Under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is listed on Schedule 1, meaning it has "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse."
That has left some uses open to prosecution, even in places where marijuana use is legal.
