Warren, Markey Urge Biden To Pardon Non-Violent Pot Offenders
WASHINGTON D.C. Massachusetts' two senators and a congressional colleague wrote a letter Tuesday to President Joe Biden urging him to use his executive authority to pardon all individuals convicted of federal non-violent cannabis offenses.
In the letter, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both of Massachusetts, and Jeff Merkley, the Oregon Democrat, wrote that by issuing such a pardon, Biden would be following through on a campaign promise.
"As a candidate for president, you argued that 'we should decriminalize marijuana' and 'everyone (with a marijuana record) should be let out of jail, their records expunged, be completely zeroed out,'" the letter said.
The senators argued that America's cannabis policies have disproportionately targeted Black and Brown communities, and they provided a history about how anti-cannabis laws were enacted specifically to target Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans.
https://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/warren-markey-urge-biden-pardon-non-violent-pot-offenders