President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he will pardon all prior federal offenses for simple marijuana possession, saying “No one should be in jail just for using marijuana.”
While the news was historic and applauded by many in the industry, it is but a first step toward broader reform and important to point out that the President’s action affects only the 6,500 incarcerated in federal prisons. The estimated 40,000 serving sentences in state jails and prisons over the same offenses are not affected by Biden's pardon.
