The official page for the White House on the social media platform X just posted a pro-marijuana message, pointing out that the current administration has “pardoned tens of thousands of people for federal marijuana possession.”
“President Biden and Vice President Harris believe no one should be jailed just for using or possessing marijuana”, states the post made this morning. “That’s why our Administration has pardoned tens of thousands of people for federal marijuana possession.”
The post comes just a few days after Vice President Kamala Harris called on the federal government to reschedule marijuana “as quickly as possible”, emphasizing that “nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.”
“I cannot emphasize enough that they need to get to it as quickly as possible,” Vice President Harris said on Friday. “We need to have a resolution based on their findings and their assessment. This issue is stark when one considers the fact that on the schedule currently, marijuana is considered as dangerous as heroin ― as dangerous as heroin ― and more dangerous than fentanyl, which is absurd, not to mention patently unfair.”
Earlier this month Biden became the first president in US history to promote marijuana reform at a State of the Union Address. The President pointed out that he’s directed his “Cabinet to review the federal classification of marijuana, and expunging thousands of convictions for mere possession, because no one should be jailed for using or possessing marijuana.”
Biden’s request for his Cabinet to review marijuana’s scheduling status led to the Department of Health and Human Services to recommend that the DEA move marijuana to Schedule III, something the agency is currently considering.
