Pressure Mounts on President Biden to Grant Clemency to Cannabis Prisoners Before Term Ends
A coalition of advocacy groups, led by the Last Prisoner Project (LPP), has launched a campaign urging President Joe Biden to use his clemency powers to release thousands of individuals still incarcerated on federal cannabis offenses. The “Countdown to Clemency” initiative aims to pressure Biden to fulfill his commitment to cannabis justice and restore justice to families impacted by cannabis criminalization.
According to the LPP, nearly 3,000 people remain incarcerated on federal cannabis offenses, despite Biden’s previous pardons for people with federal possession convictions. The advocacy group is calling on Biden to release these individuals through commutations, citing his own words on the campaign trail that “everybody should be out of jail, their records expunged” for past cannabis conduct.
The campaign’s website features a countdown clock, ticking down the remaining time before Biden’s term ends and he loses the ability to grant clemency. The initiative also highlights recent polls showing that 84% of voters support releasing people serving time for now-legal offenses, and 72% support Biden’s past pardons of non-violent marijuana possession convictions.
Notable cannabis reform advocates, including Weldon Angelos, who received a presidential pardon under the Trump administration for his own cannabis case, have spoken out in support of the campaign. Angelos has called for broader relief for people still in federal custody, citing the inconsistency between Biden’s pardons and his failure to release those incarcerated on federal marijuana charges.
The campaign’s launch comes as the administration has shown signs of recognizing the popularity of cannabis policy reform. Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have touted their reform actions, and Harris has separately urged the DEA to finish its review and reschedule marijuana “as quickly as possible.”
As the election approaches, the LPP and other advocacy groups are urging Biden to take further action to fulfill his commitment to cannabis justice and restore justice to families impacted by cannabis criminalization.
