Thousands of people convicted of cannabis possession have been pardoned by
Joe Biden, in a major move that advocates say was “long overdue” and could
help pave the way for national marijuana legalization.

“Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many
lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer
prohibit,” Biden said in a statement on Thursday afternoon. “Criminal
records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to
employment, housing and educational opportunities. And while white and
Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown
people have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted at disproportionate
rates.”

The pardons cover “simple possession”, which is a low-level offense,
meaning people imprisoned for trafficking, sales or other marijuana
charges will not be covered. The White House said no one is currently
incarcerated in federal prison solely for “simple possession”.

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Administration officials said that the pardon could benefit about 6,500
people, the Hill reports.

“It’s time that we right these wrongs,” Biden said.

He went on to urge all governors to do the same with regards to state
offenses, saying, “Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due
to the possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state
prison for that reason, either.”

The president also called on the secretary of health and human services
and the attorney general to begin the administrative process to review how
marijuana is scheduled under federal law.

Marijuana is currently classified in schedule 1 of the Controlled
Substances Act under federal law. Drugs classified under this schedule
have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse”.

This classification puts marijuana in the same schedule as for heroin and
LSD and even higher than the classification of fentanyl and
methamphetamine, two drugs that are fueling the ongoing overdose epidemic
across the country.

Advocacy groups praised Biden’s announcement, with Kassandra Frederique,
the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, saying the
organization was “thrilled”, but adding “this is incredibly long overdue”.

“There is no reason that people should be saddled with a criminal record –
preventing them from obtaining employment, housing and countless other
opportunities – for something that is already legal in 19 states and DC
and decriminalized in 31 states.”

The Rev Al Sharpton, the president of the National Action Network, said
Biden’s “righteous action today will give countless Americans their lives
back”. But he added, “The United States will never justly legalize
marijuana until it reckons with the outdated policies that equated
thousands of young Black men with hardened drug pushers.”

The move also fulfils one of the top priorities of the Democratic nominee
in one of their party’s most critical Senate races, as Pennsylvania’s
lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, has repeatedly pressed Biden to take
the step, including last month when they met in Pittsburgh.

Fetterman, in a statement, took credit for elevating the issue on Biden’s
agenda and praised the decision, calling it “a massive step towards
justice”.

“This action from President Biden is exactly what this work should be
about: improving people’s lives. I commend the president for taking this
significant, necessary, and just step to right a wrong and better the
lives of millions of Americans,” he said.

Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice, a
Virginia-based organizing group, noted that pardoning only “simple
possession” cases would exclude many people who have been criminalized.
Marijuana Justice and the Last Prisoner Project analyzed data last year
that showed that the vast majority of people in state prison for marijuana
charges had drug sale and other convictions on their records.

“Legislators feel it’s too complicated to sort through those with multiple
offenses along with their marijuana offenses. The lack of political will
to address this is really leaving behind many people in our state prisons
or jails, as well as those on community supervision with ankle bracelets..”

Wise noted that states legalizing cannabis have tried to prioritize giving
licenses to people who have been criminalized and received pardons – so
when the pardon systems are narrow, many with records struggle to enter
the new industry.

Virgil Grant, one of the few Black dispensary owners in Los Angeles, who
runs three shops, spent six years in federal prison for operating a
dispensary in California. He said he hoped he could get a pardon, noting
that it would allow him to access grants, loans, and other funding
mechanisms that he is currently unable to receive. “My record hasn’t
stopped me from running my business, but there are things I want access to
that every other citizen has access to.”

Some advocates are calling for broader clemency for people in prison for
marijuana offenses considered more serious, who are serving long
sentences. DeAnna Hoskins, president of JustLeadershipUSA, who has pushed
for broader resentencing, said that Biden had an obligation to right these
wrongs since he was behind the infamous crime bill in 1994 that paved the
way for the “war on drugs”.

“As a formerly incarcerated person, this is the type of bold statement we
really are looking for the president to take, because he was the senator
who sponsored the bill which was the foundation of mass incarceration,”
Hoskins said. “As bold as he was in pushing for our oppression, we want
him to be just as bold for our liberation.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/06/biden-marijuana-pardon-possession-decriminalization

### - lol you just 'know' it's the end of the world when they start
legalising dope on this scale?? heh :D

(why? because it obviously just doesn't matter anymore!)

that's me in the corner, losing my karma
oh sure,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY

> that's me in the corner, losing my karma
> oh sure,
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY

### - with now no offramp in situ working for either side (the fake minsk
agreement being the former offramp that clearly stopped all this from
instead happening 8 years ago) methinks we're almost arriving at 'our'
mandela moment?

this time not just to save s.africa from total ruin but to save the whole
planet!

so where the fuck is he! ;)

(wherever/whomever he is he better hurry coz the hour is getting late...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQFCvgxmvDs

as in: none of this would have ever happened if poets/artists had been
running the show instead of it all being controlled by greedy gangsters
huh, it's the only sane solution! after all, artists been warning us about
this for centuries only everyone thought they were joking...

they weren't joking !

On Fri, 07 Oct 2022 21:36:54 +0100, slider <slider@anashram.com>
wrote:

>
>> that's me in the corner, losing my karma
>> oh sure,
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY
>
>### - with now no offramp in situ working for either side (the fake minsk
>agreement being the former offramp that clearly stopped all this from
>instead happening 8 years ago) methinks we're almost arriving at 'our'
>mandela moment?
>
>this time not just to save s.africa from total ruin but to save the whole
>planet!
>
>so where the fuck is he! ;)
>
>(wherever/whomever he is he better hurry coz the hour is getting late...)
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQFCvgxmvDs
>
>as in: none of this would have ever happened if poets/artists had been
>running the show instead of it all being controlled by greedy gangsters
>huh, it's the only sane solution! after all, artists been warning us about
>this for centuries only everyone thought they were joking...
>
>they weren't joking !

You've finally lost your marbles, good lord. "Poets &
artists...running the show", who would do the cooking, hunting, pick
the crops, work in the abbatoirs, etc etc etcetera. Oh, more POETS &
ARTISTS...
give me a break lol

On Wed, 12 Oct 2022 15:43:37 +0100, o'Mahoney <libertidad@south.south.com>
wrote:

> On Fri, 07 Oct 2022 21:36:54 +0100, slider <slider@anashram.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>> that's me in the corner, losing my karma
>>> oh sure,
>>>
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY
>>
>> ### - with now no offramp in situ working for either side (the fake
>> minsk
>> agreement being the former offramp that clearly stopped all this from
>> instead happening 8 years ago) methinks we're almost arriving at 'our'
>> mandela moment?
>>
>> this time not just to save s.africa from total ruin but to save the
>> whole
>> planet!
>>
>> so where the fuck is he! ;)
>>
>> (wherever/whomever he is he better hurry coz the hour is getting
>> late...)
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQFCvgxmvDs
>>
>> as in: none of this would have ever happened if poets/artists had been
>> running the show instead of it all being controlled by greedy gangsters
>> huh, it's the only sane solution! after all, artists been warning us
>> about
>> this for centuries only everyone thought they were joking...
>>
>> they weren't joking !
>
> You've finally lost your marbles, good lord. "Poets &
> artists...running the show", who would do the cooking, hunting, pick
> the crops, work in the abbatoirs, etc etc etcetera. Oh, more POETS &
> ARTISTS...
> give me a break lol

### - lol you're such a literal idiot haha, and obviously dumber than a
bucket of rocks when it comes to Art, something of which you appear to
have NO appreciation whatsoever, it's just too subtle for you :)))

i.e., can you just imagine (pun intended heh, although even THAT will
likely go right over your head too) someone like john lennon for instance
ever actually ever giving the order to start ww3??

never in a million years! he instead wrote things like "give peace a
chance" (an idea which basically got him killed - coz in this world they
kill/murder our poets & artists as being troublemakers who're bad for
business)

so instead of an enlightened society we've got greedy/selfish gangsters
running the whole damn show, something which imho (and observation)
clearly explains the ever-nearing ruin of our world altogether... and it's
getting closer!

iow: you've been batting for the wrong team all along thang, you're
actually helping to destroy the world and you don't even realise it...

one has to be highly intelligent to appreciate Art :)

On Thu, 13 Oct 2022 13:02:19 +0100, slider <slider@anashram.com>
wrote:

>On Wed, 12 Oct 2022 15:43:37 +0100, o'Mahoney <libertidad@south.south.com>
>wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 07 Oct 2022 21:36:54 +0100, slider <slider@anashram.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>> that's me in the corner, losing my karma
>>>> oh sure,
>>>>
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY
>>>
>>> ### - with now no offramp in situ working for either side (the fake
>>> minsk
>>> agreement being the former offramp that clearly stopped all this from
>>> instead happening 8 years ago) methinks we're almost arriving at 'our'
>>> mandela moment?
>>>
>>> this time not just to save s.africa from total ruin but to save the
>>> whole
>>> planet!
>>>
>>> so where the fuck is he! ;)
>>>
>>> (wherever/whomever he is he better hurry coz the hour is getting
>>> late...)
>>>
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQFCvgxmvDs
>>>
>>> as in: none of this would have ever happened if poets/artists had been
>>> running the show instead of it all being controlled by greedy gangsters
>>> huh, it's the only sane solution! after all, artists been warning us
>>> about
>>> this for centuries only everyone thought they were joking...
>>>
>>> they weren't joking !
>>
>> You've finally lost your marbles, good lord. "Poets &
>> artists...running the show", who would do the cooking, hunting, pick
>> the crops, work in the abbatoirs, etc etc etcetera. Oh, more POETS &
>> ARTISTS...
>> give me a break lol
>
>### - lol you're such a literal idiot haha, and obviously dumber than a
>bucket of rocks when it comes to Art, something of which you appear to
>have NO appreciation whatsoever, it's just too subtle for you :)))

You have no idea of my appreciation of anything or otherwise. The
only data points you have are my postings here and who is to say that
my responses to you aren't coloured and biased in such a way because I
often take umbrage at your tone, your manner of condescention and your
vaunted superiority all of which to my mind is nothing less than
compensation for feelings of inferiority and social inadequacy.

>
>i.e., can you just imagine (pun intended heh, although even THAT will
>likely go right over your head too) someone like john lennon for instance
>ever actually ever giving the order to start ww3??

He was a great musician and creator but can you imagine him running a
country, the world, a small town or even the fucking local football
team? No skills whatsoever in administration, bureaucracy, planning,
forecasting, you name it, he didn't have it. Nor would Matisse,
Virgina Woolfe, Salman Rushdie, or any of the other million or so
great artistes who fall into your category of "poets & artists".

Here's a challenge. You won't address it, you and your kind never do,
it makes you uncomfortable and upsets your world view. Name me ONE
"poet or artist" who could run a county fair, let alone a town, a
city, a nation or the world. Just one...

>
>never in a million years! he instead wrote things like "give peace a
>chance" (an idea which basically got him killed - coz in this world they
>kill/murder our poets & artists as being troublemakers who're bad for
>business)

Like I said, he was a great musician. Period.

>
>so instead of an enlightened society we've got greedy/selfish gangsters
>running the whole damn show, something which imho (and observation)
>clearly explains the ever-nearing ruin of our world altogether... and it's
>getting closer!

Fuck off Brian, we have the polio vaccine, lifespans of 80+, good
health into our old age, relative peace compared with Attila the Hun
and Vlad the Impaler - etc etc. People like you and that other fool
in New Bedford USA are "glass half empty" people. Me, I'm a "glass
half full" person, rather indomitable, a leader, not a fucking
follower. Get with the program mate, you've already got one foot in
the grave. Time is running out.

>
>iow: you've been batting for the wrong team all along thang, you're
>actually helping to destroy the world and you don't even realise it...

Jesus, what a ridiculous thing to say. Do you read what you post
BEFORE you post it?

>
>one has to be highly intelligent to appreciate Art :)

Yeah, with an IQ of 160+ like you. Remember? Lol...

On Fri, 14 Oct 2022 08:48:42 +0100, o'Mahoney <libertidad@south.south.com>
wrote:

> On Thu, 13 Oct 2022 13:02:19 +0100, slider <slider@anashram.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 12 Oct 2022 15:43:37 +0100, o'Mahoney
>> <libertidad@south.south.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Fri, 07 Oct 2022 21:36:54 +0100, slider <slider@anashram.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>> that's me in the corner, losing my karma
>>>>> oh sure,
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY
>>>>
>>>> ### - with now no offramp in situ working for either side (the fake
>>>> minsk
>>>> agreement being the former offramp that clearly stopped all this from
>>>> instead happening 8 years ago) methinks we're almost arriving at 'our'
>>>> mandela moment?
>>>>
>>>> this time not just to save s.africa from total ruin but to save the
>>>> whole
>>>> planet!
>>>>
>>>> so where the fuck is he! ;)
>>>>
>>>> (wherever/whomever he is he better hurry coz the hour is getting
>>>> late...)
>>>>
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQFCvgxmvDs
>>>>
>>>> as in: none of this would have ever happened if poets/artists had been
>>>> running the show instead of it all being controlled by greedy
>>>> gangsters
>>>> huh, it's the only sane solution! after all, artists been warning us
>>>> about
>>>> this for centuries only everyone thought they were joking...
>>>>
>>>> they weren't joking !
>>>
>>> You've finally lost your marbles, good lord. "Poets &
>>> artists...running the show", who would do the cooking, hunting, pick
>>> the crops, work in the abbatoirs, etc etc etcetera. Oh, more POETS &
>>> ARTISTS...
>>> give me a break lol
>>
>> ### - lol you're such a literal idiot haha, and obviously dumber than a
>> bucket of rocks when it comes to Art, something of which you appear to
>> have NO appreciation whatsoever, it's just too subtle for you :)))
>
> You have no idea of my appreciation of anything or otherwise. The
> only data points you have are my postings here and who is to say that
> my responses to you aren't coloured and biased in such a way because I
> often take umbrage at your tone, your manner of condescention and your
> vaunted superiority all of which to my mind is nothing less than
> compensation for feelings of inferiority and social inadequacy.

### - bollocks heh, i have many, many years of exchanges with you on
nearly every subject and am thus utterly familiar with your responses, or
lack thereof, to go by... and you've been consistently literal, logical &
boring throughout... our very first exchanges being all about Art and a
list of other things that don't necessarily fit the rational/logical
paradigm... iow: you clearly know nada about Art other than what you've
perhaps read/heard etc, and Art can't be appreciated from the comfort of
an armchair, you clearly lack that whole spectrum and as such i've spent
'years' attempting to enlarge your appreciation in that direction in
oh-so-many ways, and failed, so i know! :)

>> i.e., can you just imagine (pun intended heh, although even THAT will
>> likely go right over your head too) someone like john lennon for
>> instance
>> ever actually ever giving the order to start ww3??
>
> He was a great musician and creator but can you imagine him running a
> country, the world, a small town or even the fucking local football
> team? No skills whatsoever in administration, bureaucracy, planning,
> forecasting, you name it, he didn't have it. Nor would Matisse,
> Virgina Woolfe, Salman Rushdie, or any of the other million or so
> great artistes who fall into your category of "poets & artists".
>
> Here's a challenge. You won't address it, you and your kind never do,
> it makes you uncomfortable and upsets your world view. Name me ONE
> "poet or artist" who could run a county fair, let alone a town, a
> city, a nation or the world. Just one...

### - i can and will address it because it's actually a very important
point that 'adds' to the subtly of the whole thing of which you've yet to
grasp/understand my original point re the world being a better place if
poets ran the world... (yet more proof that you have absolutely no
understanding whatsoever in that direction)

i.e., no self respecting/genuine poet would EVER be see 'dead' even
contemplating running the world! lol

and THAT'S the whole point you fool! Art is sooo far removed from such
mundane pursuits as to be irreconcilable! never in a million years would
they EVER become involved in politics!

the ones who love politics otoh can't wait to get in there and start
interfering in the running of the world - and boy what a fine job they've
done of fucking everything up eh?? (proof enough they're the wrong ones!)

iow: the very LAST people who should ever be ALLOWED to run the show are
the very ones doing so! and that's why the world is dying! NOW do ya get
it? (my 'lament' was just that: a sigh of wishful thinking knowing damn
well that it will never happen in such an ignorant + unenlightened world!
and THAT'S what you didn't understand by my remarks but instead took it
literally (duh) and twisted it (because you had no other option) into the
pile of nonsense you replied with heh - you're stuck right there! - and
have been since i've known you... in all this time you haven't evolved!

>> never in a million years! he instead wrote things like "give peace a
>> chance" (an idea which basically got him killed - coz in this world they
>> kill/murder our poets & artists as being troublemakers who're bad for
>> business)
>
> Like I said, he was a great musician. Period.

### - a Poet actually, music being merely the way he particularly
expressed his poetry (in olden times poems were sung rather than recited
for example, a very old tradition)

the emphasis in our society being on science and engineering rather than
the Arts, a terrible mistake on our part that has lead us to the end of
society time and again throughout history because the human race is
basically... backwards!

>> so instead of an enlightened society we've got greedy/selfish gangsters
>> running the whole damn show, something which imho (and observation)
>> clearly explains the ever-nearing ruin of our world altogether... and
>> it's
>> getting closer!
>
> Fuck off Brian, we have the polio vaccine, lifespans of 80+, good
> health into our old age, relative peace compared with Attila the Hun
> and Vlad the Impaler - etc etc. People like you and that other fool
> in New Bedford USA are "glass half empty" people. Me, I'm a "glass
> half full" person, rather indomitable, a leader, not a fucking
> follower. Get with the program mate, you've already got one foot in
> the grave. Time is running out.

### - smile, all i ever see is a glass with some liquid in it heh, the
rest (it being half-full/empty etc) being mere concatenations of disturbed
minds with no basis in reality - the very way people have been forced to
live in an upside down society, and that's what you can't
understand/appreciate: that REAL life is actually the REVERSE of
everything you believe in unless you're an mindless automaton with no
appreciation of Art :)

>> iow: you've been batting for the wrong team all along thang, you're
>> actually helping to destroy the world and you don't even realise it...
>
> Jesus, what a ridiculous thing to say. Do you read what you post
> BEFORE you post it?

### - absolutely heh, the fact that you can't grasp it doesn't mean am
wrong, and only means that you can't reach/touch that level of
appreciation...

i.e., rationality & science is ultimately responsible for the destruction
of our world, not Art!

artists might paint a picture of it or write about it etc, but they'd
never ever allow themselves to be destructive to it... and that's the
whole point! IF ONLY people like THAT had been running the world instead
we wouldn't now be on the eve of destruction! (it was a purely rhetorical
statement that you can only take literally see? a huge mistake! one very
revealing about your inner nature!)

>> one has to be highly intelligent to appreciate Art :)
>
> Yeah, with an IQ of 160+ like you. Remember? Lol...