Vice President Kamala Harris’s office has been reaching out to people who’ve received a pardon for marijuana possession under the president’s clemency proclamations–seeking assurance that the Justice Department certification process is going smoothly and engaging in broader discussions about cannabis policy reform, according to a pardon recipient who was contacted.
Chris Goldstein, who received a pardon after being officially forgiven for a 2013 cannabis possession case told Marijuana Moment Thursday that the vice-president’s office had reached out to him. The office then scheduled a Friday meeting with three staffers in order to discuss his certification experience as well as broader policy questions such a descheduling or expungements.
Goldstein stated that his office was “really happy to hear” of the relative ease with which the certification process was completed. He also said he had been “surprised at how well-informed and courteous everyone was.”
The advocate noted that, after he told staff that he had been arrested for possession of marijuana while protesting on federal property for marijuana legalization, they then discussed the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE), which is a congress bill that ends cannabis prohibition in its entirety. Harris sponsored this act during her tenure as a senator and it passed twice through the House.
Goldstein stated that his staff was interested in discussing the topic of legalization.
The Office of @VP @KamalaHarris has contacted me about getting one of #marijuana Possession pardons from @POTUS.
The staff covered pardons and descheduling as well as careful messaging.
This old activist has a new lease of hope.
Chris Goldstein 16 February 2024
He also raised the issue that pardons received by people for possession of drugs did not erase their records, and they still needed to be expunged. Goldstein stated that the office had “absolutely” heard the issue and was aware of its “nuance”.
He told the staff that, while he appreciated the message from the administration that no one should go to jail for marijuana, it was more meaningful to say, “Nobody should be arrested for marijuana” as his own case only involved an arrest, but not jail time.
So that’s what I asked. Goldstein added that they had heard it too. Goldstein said that the difference in messaging was something they’d noticed with other criminal justice legislation. They also acknowledged that it was an interesting thing to bring up.
He said: “I give them credit because they reached out to everyone who was able to who recently received a pardon through the Department of Justice, and tried to communicate and ensure that the process went well.” “It appeared that they were really interested in making sure people had an easy pardon process and that it was simple to apply, that there was a short wait period, etc.”
There’s no clear reason why the Vice President’s Office is leading the pardon outreach instead of that of the President Joe Biden who has issued the relief and routinely promoted the actions.
In any case, Harris’s staff didn’t make any specific commitments on future marijuana policy reform initiatives, Goldstein said, but the coordination of the meeting itself is encouraging to advocates–especially given that frustrations have pent up over the relative silence from the vice president on cannabis issues during the administration’s first term in light of her prior advocacy for legalization as a senator.
Marijuana Moment contacted the Vice President’s Office for comment but no representative was available.
Harris was also criticized last week for sharing a video in which she claimed that the administration “changed federal cannabis policy.” Although Biden has granted thousands of pardons for simple possession and has directed the ongoing review to federal cannabis scheduling at this time, the law has not changed and campaign promises to decriminalize pot have yet been unfulfilled.
Goldstein’s argument to the vice-president’s office regarding the need for expungements is also a point of contention with advocates who have criticized Biden for his frequent claims that pardoning people meant their records were cleared. A pardon is a formal act of forgiveness. However, convictions remain.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is currently completing a review of cannabis’s scheduling under the Controlled Substances Act after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended that it be moved from Schedule I into Schedule III.
Recently, rumors circulated that DEA’s schedule announcement would be made last week. However, this did not occur and a Biden Administration official told Marijuana Moment they’d “wave away” speculation about imminent actions.
A recent survey revealed that the impression voters had of President increased by a net of 11 points when they heard about the potential implications of the rescheduling evaluation. This includes a 11-point increase in favorability among young voters aged 18-25, who are critical to his reelection campaign.
Marijuana tax revenue should fund education and housing, not police and prisons, voters say in a new poll
Photo element provided by California Attorney General’s Office.
The post After discussing legalization and next steps with staff, an activist says that the VP Kamala Harris’s office is reaching out to marijuana pardon recipients, appeared first on Marijuana moment.
