Joe Biden announces mass pardon for fed marijuana possession convictions. Starts process to remove Schedule 1 status

Maybe. But cigarettes also do not impair vision, reflexes, or judgement the same way marijuana will so someone smoking a pack and then driving is no more dangerous than someone who didn't smoke at all. Whereas someone who drinks or smokes pot would be. Even though cigarettes may be more harmful (more so from the additives tobacco companies add to it than the tobacco itself), they're only harming themselves.

The real problem is though that marijuana does have side effects, and not all of them are positive. Inhaling anything into your lungs will cause damage, and whenever there is large scale cell damage, there's a heightened risk for cancer too. This might be more of a case for edibles, over inhaling it, but the fact remains a LOT of people are of the assumption that it is harmless, and it's not.

I am not against decriminalizing it. Nor would I be against decriminalizing other similar class recreation drugs... but we have to be honest about it.

@eoten: I think it's important to distinguish the health factor, the legality and the impairment of these substances. I think some people in this thread blur the lines between these, but they're all distinctively different factors in the topic.

I think it's important to consider while weed is not as bad for the health as tobacco, it actually impairs more.

It is not illegal to smoke a cigarette while driving but it is illegal to smoke pot while driving.

Alcohol may be the worst of the bunch because it impairs, it's bad for the health, and it's illegal to have/consume under many public circumstances.

Weed impairs and has health consequences. At least be realistic.

I never said it doesn't. All I said it may not be as bad as tobacco, and my main point is there are different angles to the drug topic that are not all one the same.

@eoten: I challenge you to find any scholarly articles that can provide evidence linking marijuana use with cancer

@JimB: He pardoned them, but they're still in jail? My God, you are so clueless it's not even funny anymore.

Again you are in the dark about the facts.

/www.whitehousedossier.com/2019/07/19/trump-releases-3000-people-from-prison-many-of-them-black/

nypost.com/2021/01/20/trump-releases-pot-prisoners-jailed-under-bidens-1994-crime-bill/

I'm glad he is changing his stance. There are several Republicans who still have this stance and I know exactly why.

Why does your party vote against legalization in the Senate by the way?

Sure, any kind of heat and smoke taken into the lungs increases risks for things like emphyzema, COPD, and other respiratory diseases. I watched someone die from emphyzema, it's not a pretty sight at all. I'm not sure it's worse than cigarettes though. Cigarettes themselves are probably the most damaging form of tobacco use as well. Often containing chemicals and fillers to reduce costs (increasing profits) and making addiction easier than say, pipe and cigar in which you don't actually inhale and is usually all natural.

Marijuana definitely makes you more likely to harm others than a cigarette is though. And when people are not honest about the negative side effects of it, it gives people the impression that it's okay to do these things in excess, or while doing things like driving.

He isn't though. It's a meaningless gesture for the upcoming election. Even people on the left, honest ones at least, see through the facade.

Citation? I have seen zero reports on these new developments.

How many people do you think are actually in federal prison for mere possession? Those are state convictions he has no control over. The people he can release, aren't there for "mere possession." These are facts. I know you want to ignore facts so you can defend Biden and cheer "yay go team!" but the truth is it's a meaningless gesture to buy votes that won't actually do the things you think it's doing. You really do believe everything you read from the usual spin doctors.

It's desperation, given how many people view this administration negatively given their skyrocketing costs of living over the past year. People aren't falling for it.

Meltdown? Overturning convictions means there is no criminal record. You don't have to be in prison to benefit. But do you continue with the meltdown. It's entertaining.

Meltdown? Over what? An empty gesture weeks before an election? Do you think if he gave a **** he would have waited 2 years after taking office to make a move on something that he alleges only needed the stroke of a pen to do? That's 2 years of those peoples lives they're never going to get back... if Biden actually cared.

And again, there are virtually no inmates in federal prison for "simple possession." Those are in state prisons, and will remain there. The ones with possession charges in federal prison are there because of other charges that go with it. And you have the Joe Biden crime bill to thank for the vast majority of it all in the first place.

You fall for the most obvious of all panders.

Hey, let's make a list, the number of people in federal prison for mere possession vs the number of people Kamala personally put in state prison for mere possession to pad her stats as a prosecutor.

lol this argument is f*cking stupid. 'If he cared why didn't he do it earlier!!!!'

Grasping for straws at this point.

So you do not have a source showing Biden has backed away from these pardons?

You said "He isn't though". I have not heard this news anywhere. Link?

He never has sources that back up what he says.

He doesn't have to. There's virtually nobody to pardon for "mere possession" in federal prison. If anyone's getting pardoned from federal prison for marijuana, you can be dang sure there are other charges along with it. You people fell for a COMPLETELY empty gesture, and now you're acting like he just made pot legal. ROFLMAO. You just bite anything the DNC tosses you, then defend it.

Thought so. So you lied, as usual. This is just your "opinion" and can not be backed up by any source.

Biden Pardons Thousands of People Convicted of Simple Marijuana Possession - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Most weed convictions are at the state level.... unless ur caught up in 'Inter-State commerce' type of thing... i.e. a gun registered in another state or reported stolen in another state. There are some though.... I think around 1200 people last I heard.

There aren't thousands in federal prison. So ask yourself who is actually being pardoned. And since almost none of those are for mere possession alone, does the pardon also cover their other crimes? If not, then virtually nobody is going anywhere.

But as per usual, you cheerlead the talking points without even the slightest amount of thought put into it. Keep thinking Biden, whose crime bill has put tens, of not hundreds of thousands of people in prison, Is somehow making amends by pardoning a very tiny fraction of those actually incarcerated.

The people being pardoned aren't drug users. They're drug dealers.

You don't have to be in prison to need a pardon. Critical thinking escapes you doesn't it?

Coming from you that is hilarious, as you cheer the pardoning of drug dealers.

Biden didn't pardon thousands of people convicted with simple Marijuana possession? I need your source that shows this NYT article is false.

You have been lying for multiple pages now.

You are dishonest. Hey mods, is spreading lies about users still a moderation?

Frankly I couldn't give two shits if small time dealers are being pardoned. They should.

To add further insult to the fact you straight out lied for multiple pages,

Biden's pot pardons could boost states' legalization drives | AP News