It’s definitely not zero impact. Any felony convictions stick around for a long time on background checks and weigh down people’s prospects in careers, housing, and any number of other realms of life. Also, states often follow the federal government’s lead, like we saw with the 90’s crime bill and 3 strikes laws. But yes, realistically this should just be seen as a mainly symbolic first step rather than as a fundamental change in itself.
It’s also important to note that it’s difficult to undo these policies. First, pardons have to be applied carefully. There are cases where people got out of a more serious charge by pleading down to simple possession. There will need to be a case-by-case review. The other is that Biden is not a dictator. He is bound by Congress, which currently is resisting efforts to reschedule marijuana. The politics of this is complex. The majority of the populace wants legalization, but political distortions built into the US’s political system are preventing that change from going into effect.
Perhaps, but the discussion I’m currently seeing on Reddit shows that people are aware that ultimately it’s up to the states to make meaningful changes on the number of people incarcerated for marijuana possession, as well as other progress on marijuana policy. Biden’s banking on it to a certain extent, since it brings up a winning issue in a number of close races. This is an issue where the Republican party has lagged behind even their own voters, so it gives the Democrats some advantage.
It’s definitely not zero impact. Any felony convictions stick around for a long time on background checks and weigh down people’s prospects in careers, housing, and any number of other realms of life. Also, states often follow the federal government’s lead, like we saw with the 90’s crime bill and 3 strikes laws. But yes, realistically this should just be seen as a mainly symbolic first step rather than as a fundamental change in itself.
It’s also important to note that it’s difficult to undo these policies. First, pardons have to be applied carefully. There are cases where people got out of a more serious charge by pleading down to simple possession. There will need to be a case-by-case review. The other is that Biden is not a dictator. He is bound by Congress, which currently is resisting efforts to reschedule marijuana. The politics of this is complex. The majority of the populace wants legalization, but political distortions built into the US’s political system are preventing that change from going into effect.
More like platitudes to get more votes from the uninforned
Perhaps, but the discussion I’m currently seeing on Reddit shows that people are aware that ultimately it’s up to the states to make meaningful changes on the number of people incarcerated for marijuana possession, as well as other progress on marijuana policy. Biden’s banking on it to a certain extent, since it brings up a winning issue in a number of close races. This is an issue where the Republican party has lagged behind even their own voters, so it gives the Democrats some advantage.
I was just reading the discussion on reddit and it feels like a bunch of gpt3 bots going at it.