In an effort to put pressure on President Joe Biden to provide more relief to people with federal marijuana convictions, activists on Tuesday announced a campaign for the president to “fulfill his commitment to cannabis justice by granting clemency to thousands of individuals.”
“Time is running out on President Biden’s term, but it is not too late for him to undo the harms inflicted on families impacted by cannabis criminalization,” LPP Executive Director Sarah Gersten said in a statement about the new initiative. “With his clemency powers, the President has the opportunity to right history and restore justice by fulfilling his promise that no one should be in jail for cannabis.”
Countdown to Clemency
A large countdown clock on the newly launched Countdown for Cannabis Clemency website ticks down the remaining time before Biden’s term ends and he loses the ability to grant relief to people with marijuana convictions.
LPP and others point out that on the campaign trail, Biden said that marijuana should be decriminalized and that “everybody should be out of jail, their records expunged” for past cannabis conduct.
“His pardons were insufficient to fulfill these words,” the new website says, “but he can still take further actions by releasing individuals via commutations.”
Public Support for Clemency
The clemency campaign points to recent polls showing that 84 percent of voters support releasing people serving time for now-legal offenses, although cannabis remains illegal at the federal level. A separate poll, however, showed that 72 percent of people supported Biden’s past pardons of non-violent marijuana possession convictions.
The Countdown for Clemency press release notes that Biden in general has granted just 1.6 percent of all clemency petitions received during his presidency.
“As President Biden enters a ‘lame duck’ period with less than five months in office, he has a unique opportunity to correct the injustices of the War on Drugs that he previously championed,” LPP said. “The campaign highlights that despite the President’s categorical pardons, no one has yet been released from prison for cannabis through commutations under his administration.”
Ongoing Calls for Clemency
Others who’ve received cannabis-related pardons have similarly spoken out, calling for broader relief for people still in federal custody.
“While I applaud President Biden for pardoning individuals like my friend Jason Hernandez, who undoubtedly deserve a second chance, I am deeply disappointed that he continues to overlook those incarcerated on federal marijuana charges,” Weldon Angelos, who received a presidential pardon under the Trump administration for his own cannabis case, told Marijuana Moment earlier this year.
“Over half the country has legalized marijuana, and even the president agrees that it should be rescheduled,” he said. “Yet, he does not see the urgency in releasing those who are unjustly imprisoned for marijuana offenses—many of whom would not be prosecuted today.”
In March, meanwhile, 36 members of Congress implored Biden to grant clemency to all Americans currently in federal prison over non-violent cannabis convictions by commuting their sentences, pointing out that the pardons he’s issued to date for simple possession cases did not release a single person from incarceration.
Biden has thus far indicated that he’s uninterested in expanding his marijuana clemency efforts beyond people who’ve faced convictions for use or simple possession, however. At a campaign stop in Wisconsin earlier this year, for example, he said that “if you’re out selling it, if you’re out growing, it’s a different deal.”
Political Climate and Cannabis Reform
But as the election approaches, it’s clear that the administration recognizes the popularity of cannabis policy reform. Both Biden and Harris touted their reform actions at exactly 4:20pm ET on the cannabis holiday of April 20, for example.
The president also discussed the marijuana actions in a historic context during his State of the Union address this year.
Harris, meanwhile, separately urged DEA to finish its review and reschedule marijuana “as quickly as possible” while meeting pardon recipients for a roundtable event at the White House last month. Behind closed doors, she’s also said “we need to legalize marijuana.”
Clemency: A Vital Step Toward Justice
The #Countdown4Clemency campaign urges President Biden to act swiftly to release an estimated 3,000 individuals who are still incarcerated for cannabis offenses. Recent polls show that 84% of voters back the release of individuals serving time for now-legal offenses, and 72% support clemency at both the federal and state levels, emphasizing the public’s strong support for cannabis clemency.
The campaign also draws attention to the significant racial disparities in cannabis-related convictions and the potential for clemency to positively impact communities of color. Almost half of the clemency petitions LPP has submitted currently under review involve individuals who identify as Black, many of whom could be granted relief with the President’s action.
Among those still behind bars is Ricardo Ashmeade, who is serving a 22-year sentence due to the three-strikes law sponsored by then-Senator Joe Biden. His daughter, Richeda Ashmeade, has been separated from her father for 16 years. As she approaches her law school graduation, President Biden has the opportunity to reunite their family with the stroke of a pen.
A Call to Action: Join the #Countdown4Clemency
To join the #Countdown4Clemency and advocate for cannabis justice, the public is encouraged to send letters to President Biden to grant clemency before his term ends, then promote the campaign on social media using hashtags #Countdown4Clemency and #CannabisClemency! For more information, please visit www.cannabisclemency.org.
The Last Prisoner Project is dedicated to freeing those incarcerated due to the War on Drugs, reuniting their families, and helping them rebuild their lives. As laws change, there remains a fundamental injustice for individuals whose conviction is no longer a crime. LPP works to repair these harms through legal intervention, constituent support, direct advocacy and policy change. Please join us for LPP’s Inaugural Journey To Justice Gala celebrating the org’s 5-Year Anniversary on Tuesday, September 24 at Sony Hall in NYC.
