New Congressional Research Group Looks At Biden's Marijuana Pardons

A new report released by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) provided a detailed overview of the limitations of President Joe Biden's mass cannabis pardon. It referred to recent state and federal marijuana reform actions.

“While some observers consider President Biden’s grant of clemency to represent a significant change in federal marijuana policy, as a legal matter it did little to alter the growing disparity between federal and state marijuana regulation,” CRS said before detailing its limitations, that also noted, “marijuana regulation is one area where the gap between federal and state controlled substance laws is particularly salient.”

As Marijuana Moment reported, federal prohibition has been mitigated by a congressional spending bill that places restrictions on the use of federal funds for cannabis enforcement, as well as the prosecutorial discretion that has been exercised.

President’s Clemency Action: Key Limitations

Biden is not able to pardon people with cannabis convictions at the state level, where more marijuana cases are prosecuted. Biden encouraged governors to take steps to provide relief to those individuals, but congressional researchers noted that there are states where “governors cannot independently grant clemency.”

Also, "the pardon applies only to simple possession of marijuana, not to other marijuana-related CSA offenses such as manufacture, distribution, or possession with intent to distribute or to other federal crimes,” the report said. “Federal prosecutions of simple possession of marijuana are relatively uncommon.”

Moreover, CRS said that presidential clemency is also limited by the fact that non-citizens with cannabis possession records were specifically excluded from pardons, an issue that has been identified by numerous advocacy groups and lawmakers.

CRS additionally explained that “the pardon applies only to offenses committed before the proclamation,” and while the Justice Department is “currently not prioritizing prosecuting low-level marijuana offenses, the October 2022 pardon does not prevent the prosecution of future offenses if the current Administration or a future Administration adopts a different policy.”

“The pardon may not remove all legal consequences of marijuana possession, because it does not expunge convictions,” reads the report. “Moreover, some collateral consequences of marijuana-related activities do not depend on a person being charged with or convicted of a CSA violation.”

"Finally, and most fundamentally, the pardon does not change the status of marijuana under federal law,” CRS said. “The President lacks the power to make such a change unilaterally.”

What About Cannabis Reform Actions?

In addition, congressional investigators conducted a more extensive analysis of recent state and federal cannabis reform actions, specifically last week's votes on legalizing recreational cannabis on the ballot in five states.

“Recent years have seen numerous states repeal criminal prohibitions on medical and recreational marijuana use. Despite some failures, marijuana legalization proposals have regularly appeared in state legislatures and on state ballots and, where successful, have significantly changed the legal landscape,” the report said. “That trend continued in the 2022 elections.”

Finally, CRS talked about options for Congress to build upon federal marijuana reform, noting that lawmakers have filed multiple proposals that would “change how the federal government regulates marijuana,” including the House-passed Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act.

“Congress has broad power to regulate marijuana or relax federal regulation of the substance as part of its authority over interstate commerce,” CRS said.

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Photo: Courtesy Of Louis Velazquez On Unsplash