# POTUS announces major federal marijuana reform **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 6, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839 "2022-10-06T19:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**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 6, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/1 "2022-10-06T19:17:40Z")
POTUS announced a pardon of all prior Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana. The Attorney General will develop an administrative process for the issuance of certificates of pardon to eligible individuals. The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General will initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. Limitations on trafficking, marketing, and under-age sales should stay in place. > **[Biden to pardon all prior federal marijuana offenses, calls for review of law](https://www.fox7austin.com/news/biden-to-pardon-all-prior-federal-marijuana-offenses-calls-for-review-of-law)** > > President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana, as his administration takes a dramatic step toward decriminalizing the drug and addressing charging practices that disproportionately impact people... ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/2 "2022-10-06T19:46:56Z")
There’s a thread in P&E: > [@Dank Brandon (President Biden) announces Federal pardon of Marijuana Possession inmates, review of federal laws re: same](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-brandon-president-biden-announces-federal-pardon-of-marijuana-possession-inmates-review-of-federal-laws-re-same/972840): > > Also, a review of MJ’s status as a Schedule 1 narcotic is in the works. Here he lays out the plan on Twitter: However, I understood this thread title, unlike the weird one in P&E. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/3 "2022-10-06T20:16:31Z")
About freaking time. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/4 "2022-10-06T21:19:30Z")
The classification of cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic, right alongside drugs like heroin, has been a truly bizarre anachronism, all the more so in modern times when it’s completely legal in many states. Some of the reasons for this are historical and partly rooted in deep racism and manufactured fear-mongering – check out the **[bio of Harry Anslinger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_J._Anslinger)**, he of _Reefer Madness_ fame. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/5 "2022-10-06T21:37:48Z")
But this dosen’t really get any one out of jail, because few people are incarcerated just for simple possession. If this is a crime a associated with another, more serious one like armed robbery, you are not getting off. It does attempt to remove that simple infraction from your record so your potential new boss can ignore it. I view this as more symbolic than a bold move. Depending upon where you live, your results may vary. But his is not a major reform. Just good optics. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/6 "2022-10-06T21:41:10Z")
It’s a step in the right direction so I’m all for it, even if it’s not a giant step. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/7 "2022-10-06T21:44:29Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > But this dosen’t really get any one out of jail, because few people are incarcerated just for simple possession. If this is a crime a associated with another, more serious one like armed robbery, you are not getting off. So? It seems to me that would be what we would want and expect. In jail just because you were in possession of marijuana? You can go free. In jail because you committed armed robbery? You stay in jail, even though you _also_ happened to have some weed on you. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/8 "2022-10-06T21:47:14Z")
Actually, IMHO removing cannabis from Schedule 1 is a pretty big step and long, long overdue, although it’s not clear that this is yet a done deal as it may require Congress to change the law. Pardoning federal marijuana offenses is a tacit acknowledgement that it’s been mis-classified for the past hundred years. Cannabis needs to be regulated like alcohol, no more and no less. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/9 "2022-10-06T22:04:44Z")
Those of us hoping for and monitoring progress for 50 years on this issue have gotten pretty accustomed to having only the smallest victories along the way. But things seem to be moving in the right direction and I’ll happily take this one. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/10 "2022-10-09T03:59:58Z")
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potus-announces-major-federal-marijuana-reform/972839/11 "2022-10-12T22:51:32Z")
In a survey of Parkinson’s Disease patients, more than half reported treating their symptoms with cannabis. Research needs to be done, but the Schedule 1 status makes cannabis research incredibly hard to legally set up, and consistent, reliable sources for the drug are intentionally made difficult to find.