🚨 ALERT: Biden pardons 0.04% of cannabis arrests since 1992.

Today, POTUS announced federal pardons for simple possession and more.

October 06, 2022

President Biden Announces Federal Pardons for Simple Cannabis Possession Dating Back to 1992, Initiates Evaluation of Scheduling, Encourages State Officials To Follow Suit

Read the full POTUS Twitter Thread:

Yes, you read that right: Biden just made some big news in the world of cannabis.

Today, Biden...

  • Pardoned all federal arrests for simple possession dating back to 1992

  • Initiated an evaluation of controlled substance scheduling as it related to Cannabis

  • Advocated that state officials also pardon simple possession

Any political support for cannabis is a win, without question, but the timing and numbers add up to this seeming more like political pandering than political activism.

Democrats (POTUS' party line) have not made official statements on federal cannabis policy until today...less than a month away from mid-term elections.

And the actual impact of the announcements will be fairly minor (only 0.04% of possession arrests were actually pardoned).

So, was it a strategic maneuver on behalf of the sitting president to build rapport among cannabis advocates who might otherwise have been displeased with Dems' handling of other policies?

For the record: Biden only pardoned 0.04% of simple possession arrests since 1992.

How did I get this number?

The Data:

  • 6500 (ish) people benefit from @POTUS's Simple Possession pardon (SP #s 1992-2021)

  • That's 217 people per year, none of whom are serving time currently (per @NBCNews)

  • 600,000+ cannabis arrests annually (90% for simple possession alone) (2018 Numbers).

Quick Math:

  • 90% of 600k = 540,000 simple possession arrests.

  • 540k * 30 years = 16,200,000 arrests.

  • 16.2M People arrested from 1992-2021 for simple possession.

Biden pardoned 6,500 of them....or 0.04%.

Like many federal announcements about drug reform and cannabis, this feels a bit like the party the industry throws every time a new bill hits the floor of Congress only to dry up and die when it comes time to a vote.

Yes, it's historic that Biden made any sort of gesture related to cannabis.

Yes, those 6,500 people are stoked right now.

But questions remain:

  • Will state officials follow suit and pardon low-level simple possession arrests as Biden has encouraged?

  • Will cannabis actually get rescheduled (and what does that mean, legally)?

Until we get a better idea of where we are headed, hold on tight, and stay tuned for more updates on these rapidly-evolving current cannabis events.

Until tomorrow,

Ben "Reasonable Skeptic" Owens

Sources: