# Dank Brandon (President Biden) announces Federal pardon of Marijuana Possession and use charges - inmates, review of federal laws re: same **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 6, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840 "2022-10-06T19:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/81 "2022-10-09T20:08:27Z")
It’s especially galling since Rick Scott (former Florida governor) stole millions…_millions_ … he should have been imprisoned, and he should still be there. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/82 "2022-10-09T20:13:08Z")
> [@mundylion](#): > > But no one has even commented on the fact that it is indeed a valid law of the country, passed in accordance with our constitution. So if we no longer want such a law, then our legislature should repeal or modify it. It is not up to the President to decide. The President has the absolute right to pardon, under the Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/83 "2022-10-09T20:29:35Z")
> [@mundylion](#): > > I agree with most dopers and no doubt a majority of the voters of the United States that people should not be jailed for marijuana possession. No argument. But no one has even commented on the fact that it is indeed a valid law of the country, passed in accordance with our constitution. So if we no longer want such a law, then our legislature should repeal or modify it. It is not up to the President to decide. Actually, it is. The Controlled Substance Act basically tells the President to set ip a system to decide which drugs fall into which classification. For _years_ Congress has avoided having to make hard decisions in order to give themselves plausible deniability. The presidency hasn’t stolen power, the legislative branch has thrown it away, over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/84 "2022-10-09T21:24:55Z")
> [@mundylion](#): > > So if we no longer want such a law, then our legislature should repeal or modify it. It is not up to the President to decide. Biden’s pardon rate is pitifully low compared with early 20th century presidents like Coolidge, who year after year pardoned or commuted sentences for roughly 4 percent of federal prisoners. [Hundreds were annually given](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-statistics) pardons, reprieves, and commutations even though the federal prison population is 20-25 times greater today. I guess your point is that Biden is singling out one crime to pardon. I’d have to do research, but I strongly suspect that the old time Presidents, who with all their flaws believed in Christian forgiveness, also had certain offenses they commonly excused, and others they never did. As others have pointed out, the U.S. Constitution gives the President the power with no expectation of rare use. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/85 "2022-10-09T21:55:46Z")
You’d think by now that even the stupidest of those congresspeople would admit scheduling pot next to heroin is idiotic, yet I’m pretty sure I heard one of them, recently, argue that pot is actually _worse_ than heroin. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/86 "2022-10-09T22:06:28Z")
Well, you never hear anybody suggesting that heroin is a gateway drug to pot ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/87 "2022-10-09T22:28:37Z")
One good thing about heroin is that you never hear of anyone drowning in the bathtub, or jumping off the roof thinking they could fly. I’ve seen the documentaries. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/88 "2022-10-09T23:41:47Z")
Biden feels that jailing someone for possession of marijuana is unjust, and seeks to have the law changed. In the meantime, he has the power and the right to undo that injustice for people who are serving sentences, while also seeking to have the law changed so people can’t be imprisoned for it moving forward. I see no tyranny in any of that. Rather the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/89 "2022-10-09T23:51:34Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Actually, it is. The Controlled Substance Act basically tells the President to set ip a system to decide which drugs fall into which classification. For _years_ Congress has avoided having to make hard decisions in order to give themselves plausible deniability. Does that mean that it doesn’t take an act of congress to change the schedule of a drug? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/90 "2022-10-10T00:24:02Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Does that mean that it doesn’t take an act of congress to change the schedule of a drug? It does not. This document has the process in it: [https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/Drugs%20of%20Abuse%202020-Web%20Version-508%20compliant-4-24-20\_0.pdf](https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/Drugs%20of%20Abuse%202020-Web%20Version-508%20compliant-4-24-20_0.pdf) I’m not going to quote the whole process because it’s pretty wordy. But to sum up, it’s done by the DEA, leaning on the HHS for research/advice. So, it is fully a function of the Executive Branch, Congress has no involvement. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/91 "2022-10-10T01:09:10Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > For _years_ Congress has avoided having to make hard decisions in order to give themselves plausible deniability. The presidency hasn’t stolen power, the legislative branch has thrown it away, over and over again. An important observation. The administrative state IS a creation of legislation. At the same time, to be fair, it also in inherent to the legislative branch to have enough sense to know it would be daft to attempt to micromanage the entire operational apparatus via Act of Congress, and thus to vest certain executive entities with authority to regulate and decide when and how the law will be enforced. In which case he proper thing is to set up in the law who’s responsible and what are the least and most things they can do or not do and what enforceably happens if they fall short of or exceed the statutory lines, and yes often they have failed on that account leaving many back doors open (plus of course there’s always _that one thing_ nobody thought of explicitly forbidding **or** mandating in law because of course it’s bloody obvious… until someone says “well, but what if we…”) So, scheduling controlled substances is a primary function of HHS because of course it would be in their lane to know what is the research as to what is addictive, therapeutically useful, etc. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/92 "2022-10-10T18:47:09Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I’m not going to quote the whole process because it’s pretty wordy. But to sum up, it’s done by the DEA, leaning on the HHS for research/advice How political would it be or seem to be for a president to lean on that for a preferred outcome? If Biden said, “I’m going to recommend to the DEA and HHS to reclassify Marijuana, and have it regulated by the ATF similar to alcohol.” is that something that would / could actually happen? If so, seems a good way to pick up some votes, and as a byproduct, end a “war” that has been far too costly for both “sides”. > [@Atamasama](#): > > Congress has no involvement. Now, if they wanted to, Congress _could_ pass legislation explicitly changing the schedule as well, correct? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/93 "2022-10-10T18:59:21Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > How political would it be or seem to be for a president to lean on that for a preferred outcome? If Biden said, “I’m going to recommend to the DEA and HHS to reclassify Marijuana, and have it regulated by the ATF similar to alcohol.” is that something that would / could actually happen? In theory it could happen, I think the process would allow anything to be rescheduled that way. Again, **in theory**. Really, the request to reschedule can come from lots of places; a drug manufacturer, a medical society, even a private citizen can put in a request. It’s up to the DEA to push it forward, and the HHS makes a medical and scientific evaluation (which is binding, not just a recommendation). Then the DEA makes a decision based on what comes back from the HHS. I believe that the Controlled Substances Act prevents Biden from being able to do this via Executive Order. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > Now, if they wanted to, Congress _could_ pass legislation explicitly changing the schedule as well, correct? Absolutely they can. The usual process that is done by the Executive Branch of course follows the Controlled Substances Act, which came from the 91st Congress and was signed into law by Nixon. While the process is carried out by the Executive, it was the Legislature that brought it into being (as is their role as the lawmaking body) and they can always change it themselves. Here is a blog by the Brookings Institution talking specifically about how marijuana can be rescheduled. They took care to show how complicated it would be for the Executive, but much simpler for the Legislature. > **[How to reschedule marijuana, and why it's unlikely anytime soon | Brookings](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-to-reschedule-marijuana-and-why-its-unlikely-anytime-soon/)** > > With Alaska and Oregon joining Washington and Colorado in legalizing recreational marijuana, more attention has been focused on the mismatch between federal and state law. Increasingly, what stands in the way of medical science for marijuana is the... They even provided a handy flowchart to illustrate. [![](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/johnflowchart-2.jpg) ](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/johnflowchart-2.jpg) Of course, “simple” doesn’t mean “easy”. Getting controversial legislation passed is _never_ easy. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/94 "2022-10-12T18:56:34Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > The executive has quite a bit of discretion as to _how_ to enforce the laws, and _a whole damn lot_ of discretion on clemency. Yes and in the past that bit of discretion as to how to enforce the law has made it so that possession of marijuana wasn’t a jailable offense but possession or marijuana while being poor, non-white or both was. If the executive branch had the ability to use its discretionary enforcement powers to substantial change the law from what was written it should be allowed to use its discretionary celmaecy powers similarly. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/95 "2023-12-22T16:48:13Z")
Dank Brandon strikes again: > ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/96 "2023-12-22T17:05:24Z")
Full AP article on the subject: > **[Biden is pardoning thousands convicted of marijuana charges on federal lands...](https://apnews.com/article/biden-marijuana-pardons-clemency-02abde991a05ff7dfa29bfc3c74e9d64)** > > The president is pardoning thousands of people convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/97 "2023-12-22T17:21:48Z")
Hmmm…so if you were busted for smoking weed in a National Park, you’re off the hook now? It’s not decriminalized, so what what happens to people who get caught toking up in Yosemite going forward? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/98 "2023-12-22T17:23:11Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > It’s not decriminalized, so what what happens to people who get caught toking up in Yosemite going forward? They can still be prosecuted, but I’m guessing that at least for the rest of the Biden administration, federal prosecutors won’t bother. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/99 "2023-12-22T17:35:18Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > They can still be prosecuted, but I’m guess that at least for the rest of the Biden administration, federal prosecutors won’t bother. Good. Because, what a huge waste of time and resources. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840/100 "2023-12-22T18:17:10Z")
More encouragement of criminal behavior by the Dank State! /s [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dank-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-and-use-charges-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840.md?page=6)