President Joe Biden has just issued pardons for all Americans who have been convicted at the national level of possessing small marijuana amounts.
Official estimates see around 6,500 people with federal convictions benefitting from this new presidential move. In the US, no one is currently in federal prison for possessing marijuana as convictions occur at state level.
The pardons will make it easier for people to get employment, access to housing and even education. This comes after Biden promised to decriminalise cannabis use and expunging convictions.
“Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” Mr Biden said .
He also revealed that he would call upon all state governors to issue their own marijuana pardons. Meanwhile, he is directing the Department of Justice and Department of Health to review how cannabis is classified under federal law.
Classifying marijuana at the same level as heroin makes no sense said the president. Recreational marijuana is already legal in 19 states, but it remains illegal at the federal level.
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