Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Last Prisoner Project celebrate first step by President Biden to fulfilling campaign promises
This entry has been published on October 6, 2022 and may be out of date.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Last Prisoner Project celebrate first step by President Biden to fulfilling campaign promises Primary contact- Jason Ortiz, Executive Director of Students for Drug Policy, 860 639 8101, jason@ssdp.org Washington, D.C. – Earlier today, President Biden announced that he has pardoned all federal cannabis prisoners charged with simple possession of cannabis. We are encouraged to see the President take action to address the consequences of cannabis prohibition and criminalization, and will continue to push the Biden Administration for the release of all federal cannabis prisoners. Students for Sensible Drug Policy recently launched the “Keep Your Promise, President Biden!” campaign with the Last Prisoner Project this September. Students and formerly incarcerated people joined together to pressure President Biden to release federal cannabis prisoners using his executive authority. Today’s action, while an incredible victory for the nation, stops short of bringing justice to the thousands of federal cannabis prisoners who should be released immediately. “We are thrilled that a campaign which united voters across generational lines with students leading the charge successfully pressured the President to make bold progress on criminal justice reforms.” said Jason Ortiz, Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “This is a crystal clear example of direct action working, and why we are excited for our mass action on October 24th to make sure President Biden continues this progress and releases federal cannabis prisoners. This is a great first step, but we will not stop until all of our cannabis prisoners are returned to their families.” “We are thrilled that President Biden has taken this initial action to pardon thousands of individuals suffering the collateral consequences of a cannabis conviction. While we will continue to call on his administration to release those still incarcerated in federal prison for cannabis offenses other than simple possession, these grants are an important first step in acknowledging the need to repair the harms of prohibition. We look forward to continuing to work with the Biden administration on broader clemency grants, the release of every federal cannabis prisoner, and the federal legalization of cannabis,” says Sarah Gersten, Executive Director of the Last Prisoner Project, co-founding organization of the “Keep your promise!” Campaign. “President Biden’s action is more of a self-serving political fig leaf than an action that will create real change. This is because it is limited to simple possession cases, while the vast majority of federal cases are for cultivation, transport, or sales of cannabis. The President could have pardoned at least some of the 2800 federal prisoners currently serving time on non-violent cannabis charges; he could have simply ordered the Attorney General and Director of HHS to reschedule cannabis, instead of requesting them to study an issue that has already be studied ad infinitum. Instead, he took an action limited to the very small number of people convicted on simple possession charges at the federal level— and will not release a single person from prison. We will therefore continue our civil disobedience campaign, and call on cannabis voters to make their views known to the Democratic Party— before the midterms. Keep your promise, Joe. It’s the only decent thing to do”. said Steve DeAngelo, Founder of the Last Prisoner Project. “
