Hello.

I've got a question, and I'd like to get to the bottom of it. This is my new series where I do that.

Is it a series? Can you call it a series? I've done it twice now.

March 7th, pm, I believe during the State of the Union, Joe Biden tweets: "No one." with the following image. "No one should be jailed just for using or possessing marijuana. - President Joe Biden. 47 thousand likes, people agree with this one. I agree with this one. I'll also like it.

With 185 thousand likes, a quote tweet of that tweet with a screenshot of different tweet that says "Biden is always tweeting shit like 'who the hell is the president I'd like to have a word with him'". That tweet has 378 thousand likes. It's confusing.

There's tweets on the tweets. There's - it's a quote tweet of a - it's a tweeted quote tweet - it's a tweet that was quote tweeted with a tweet. Look, in the future I hope no one understands any of what we're talking about.

So the question I have is, has Joe Biden done anything for people who did marijuana crimes? I've done marijuana crimes. Not recently, cuz it's legal now.

This person said "He did pardon thousands of people who violated marijuana law but go off". And that's got 12 likes. And there's a response to that with two thousand that says "Biden's marijuana pardons did not free a single federal prisoner or deliver the expungement he promised".

How do we even start? We start with: what did Biden promise? "U. S. President Joe Biden stated on February 2021 that his administration will pursue cannabis decriminalization as well as seek expungements for people with prior cannabis convictions".

I think expungement - like pardon is where you've convicted the crime and they're like you don't have to be in jail anymore. Expungement is when like, your record is clear.

So you did the crime but we've decided that since it's no longer a crime, it shouldn't be on your record and it shouldn't be harder to get a job. Let's get to the bottom of it. I'm fairly confused, having looked at this just a little bit.

So, the thing he said originally is "No one should be jailed just for using or possessing marijuana". So is anyone jailed for using or possessing marijuana. There's a bunch of different claims.

This is the thing about Twitter fights, no one's ever talking about the same thing. So we have to get together the things that we're talking about.

Fucking Sheets. We're gonna do a spreadsheet, everybody.

So.

Expungement. Pardon.

Jailed for possession. Has anyone been freed. So these are the claims I've seen so far made.

So what Joe Biden said was no one should be jailed for using marijuana. What this person said is Biden's marijuana pardons did not free a single federal prisoner or deliver the expungements he promised. Fact-

Check: Expunged 'Thousands of Convictions' in State of the Union Address. While the president did direct the administrative scheduling review that is ongoing, he did not expunge any cannabis records. Two rounds of mass pardons. Largely symbolic action that offered formal forgiveness for people who've committed federal marijuana offenses.

Just so you know, I feel like if it's a fact-check you should avoid saying things like "largely symbolic" and you should explain what you mean. Because that, to me, is a value judgement. So like, is it largely symbolic?

How largely is it symbolic? That's a value judgement, not a thing that I think should be in a fact-check. So there was two sets of pardons.

Let's see what they were. The first one, this is from the office of the pardon guy. Pardon Attorney.

He's really called the pardon attorney. He is the pardon guy. So these are both - okay.

October, presidential proclamation pardoned many federal and DC offenses for simple marijuana possession offenses. So he did do that.

Number 2. Issued another proclamation expanded relief providing - adds to the list of pardoned offenses, offenses under federal law for attempted possession of marijuana.

That's the worst thing to go to jail for. "Why are you in jail?" I tried to get weed. There have been at least two pardons that have pardoned apparently thousands of people each.

What did he say in the State of the Union? Come on, clip it for me. Don't make me find it.

Okay, directing my Cabinet to review the federal classification of marijuana. That actually seems like a bigger deal than any of this. And expunging thousands of convictions for the mere possession, because no one should be jailed for simply using or having it on their record.

So that's it. That's the one thing. So, reviewing federal classification, that's another - that's another claim.

So federal classification of illicit substances. There are different classes, and Class One is the most severe and marijuana in the US is a Class One drug.

Which is ludicrous! [laughs] I mean it breaks the whole system to have a Class One drug to be something as commonly available and nondestructive as marijuana. I'm not saying weed is good for you, it's not.  Like almost all drugs are bad for you, I mean they're all bad for you in certain quantities.  Alcohol is bad for you, weed is bad for you, tobacco is bad for you. None of these things are good for you but marijuana is not a super dangerous drug.

So, review Federal Classification, what does that mean? President Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services to consider whether the classification of cannabis as a Schedule One drug under the Controlled Substances Act was appropriate in light of current medical science... Repeated failure of Congressional efforts to reform federal cannabis policies may have prompted the White House to advance this policy. So, Congress can't do it so Biden is saying: Hey HHS, see if you can change it from schedule one to schedule three. 

The HHS issued a recommendation to the DEA that marijuana be reclassificated from schedule one to schedule three after all, grouping cannabis with substances like heroin or OxyContin, schedule two, doesn't align with prevailing scientific consensus on the relative harm and medical utility. If the recommendation is approved it would no longer be listed as a dangerous substance like heroin or LSD. Are you putting those in the same category either? I don't know. And it would reduce potential, uhh, or potentially eliminate criminal penalties for possession. 

Sounds great! The decision rests with the DEA which has rarely if ever rejected a rescheduling recommendation from the HHS! The DEA will consider marijuana reclassification under three criteria's.  When will it do this would be a great thing to know. A descheduling order would be susceptible to legal challenge where a reschuduling wouldn't. Suggests that deschuduling cannabis entirely was never relalistic at this moment in history. 

I mean, I don't know, uh, Robert Hoban, cannabis attorney.  Well, kind of trust a cannabis attorney more than the average person.  See they definitely know more than I do. So, uh what I'm getting is this review federal classification and and a rescheduling of marijuana is a yes. And a big good thing that the Biden administration has done for this.  But that's not, has nothing to do with the original claim made in the tweet.