PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana in federal court elicited celebration from Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, who has long advocated for legalizing the drug, and silence from his Republican challenger, Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman called the announcement a “a massive step toward justice,” and claimed some credit. He’d pressed Biden on the issue when they both marched in the Pittsburgh Labor Day parade.
“When I heard President Biden would be in Pittsburgh a month ago, I knew that if I had a chance to sit down with him, I would use that opportunity to talk about the need to decriminalize marijuana,” Fetterman said in a statement released moments after Biden’s announcement. “And that’s exactly what I did. People’s lives should not be derailed because of minor, nonviolent marijuana-related offenses.”
