Biden recently made headlines when announcing that he was going to pardon some cannabis 'criminals', though the change wasn't going to impact all individuals who are currently behind bars for cannabis-related offenses.
We have heard this sort of promise made before, and others who have heard of pardon promises in certain regions of the US might still be waiting to see that fully realized.
Even though a political figure promises a pardon it doesn't mean that liberty will be granted to those cannabis 'criminals' in a short amount of time.
Even in states that have no legal recreational market yet, there is popularity for the idea of decriminalization or legalization.
There are hundreds of thousands of individuals who have been caught up in the war on drugs over the last few decades. Slowly things are changing but still there are a lot of arrests taking place for victimless crimes.
In 2021 it is estimated that some 170k+ marijuana-related arrests took place.
Is Marijuana still a priority?
Even those who have had small amounts of marijuana have been arrested.
When an individual is arrested for a plant like cannabis and a victimless crime like possession it is something that can change their life forever and bring about a variety of negative circumstances. It can be more difficult to get a job, to find a decent place to live, to move to a new country etc.
Do you think communities would be happy to see police resources being spent mostly on cannabis users more than other violent offenders? Or maybe if the public knew how much attention and resources were being wasted on that activity they might vote for other things to be moved up the attention list.
Would you be shocked to find out that some years have seen more people arrested for cannabis than all other violent crimes combined?
Is Biden just pandering to the pro-cannabis voters? (Which represents millions of voters around the country) Critics have said the promise of that pardon isn't enough as it doesn't extend to all peaceful cannabis 'criminals' and it's arguably a little too late after previous promises of cannabis reform that have been made. What's taking so long?
Pics:
pixabay
Sources:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/margot-price-biden-pardon-weed-offenders-1234608109/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63175193
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/the-fbi-doesnt-know-how-many-marijuana-arrests-were-made-in-2021-and-its-their-own-damn-fault
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyearlenbaugh/2020/10/06/more-people-were-arrested-for-cannabis-last-year-than-for-all-violent-crimes-put-together-according-to-fbi-data/?sh=71ed57c7122f