Joe Biden: «I don't think anyone should be in jail for using cannabis»

Joe Biden made his first public comments on cannabis since taking office more than a year ago, after being asked about his campaign promise to release incarcerated individuals for nonviolent federal cannabis-related offenses.

«I don't think anyone should be in prison for using cannabis,» Joe Biden said on July 17 in response to a question from Steven Nelson of the New York Post.

«We are currently working on a bill on crime,» the president added, though it is unclear exactly which legislation he was referring to.

At the press conference on Thursday, July 25, the journalist from the New York Post Steven Nelson followed up on these questions, asking White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre whether the president also believes that people convicted at the federal level for selling cannabis should be eligible for assistance, and whether the crime bill Biden referred to «rules out any possibility of a mass amnesty.».

Karine Jean-Pierre began by noting that the president has granted a sentence reduction to 78 people in April, including individuals convicted of nonviolent violations of federal drug laws.

«He continues to evaluate other ways to use his clemency powers. We don’t have any further announcements to make at this time—but I can tell you that this is what he has done throughout his administration,» she said, without addressing the role that future legislation might play and leaving aside the question of whether people who sell cannabis should remain in prison.

Since Joe Biden took office, advocates for cannabis regulation have been frustrated by the President’s lack of specificity and limited action contrary to its commitment to release prisoners because of cannabis use during his election campaign.