“No one should be in prison just for using or possessing marijuana,” Biden said. He called on senior administration officials to review how the drug is regulated under federal law and whether it should continue to be treated as a Schedule I substance along with drugs such as heroin, LSD and ecstasy. On October 6, President Biden pardoned thousands of people convicted of federal crimes simply for possessing marijuana, and urged governors to do the same. (Video: Julie Yoon/The Washington Post) See what you need to know about how US marijuana policies and laws compare to those of other countries. What does Biden’s offer of mass pardons for people convicted of simple possession of marijuana mean? More than 600,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession in the United States in 2018, according to the latest available data from the American Civil Liberties Union. (Not all arrests lead to charges and convictions.) But Biden’s announcement applies only to federal prosecutions, a fraction of people affected by possession laws. His pardon does not extend to those convicted under state law. “Many, if not most, of the people who serve are in state systems,” said Griffen Thorne, an attorney at Harris Bricken, a law firm that works with cannabis companies. (Biden also called on state governors on Thursday to offer similar pardons.) No one is serving time in federal prison solely for the crime of possessing marijuana, White House officials said Thursday, although more than 6,500 people may have such convictions on their records. How do United States policies stack up against the rest of the world? Possession or consumption of marijuana for any reason is illegal under federal law, but as of February, 37 states and the District of Columbia had approved it for medical use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Additionally, at least 19 states and DC had legalized recreational marijuana for adults as of May. Technically, “any state-level marijuana program is a complete violation of federal law,” Thorne said, but the federal government “looked the other way.” Some countries have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, although there are many gray areas and caveats. Places where the recreational use of cannabis is legal include Uruguay, Canada and Malta. In some cases, there are restrictions on the age, quantities and transportation of the drug. South Africa has decriminalized the private use of cannabis by adults, although its purchase or sale remains illegal. Thailand legalized the cultivation and sale of marijuana this year. But government officials have warned that “non-productive” use of the drug – such as smoking it outside – could lead to penalties such as short jail terms. Marijuana is now legal in Thailand. What does this mean for tourists? Germany’s coalition government pledged before taking office last year to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. Australia allows medical marijuana, but recreational home use is only legal in the Australian Capital Territory, which includes Canberra and surrounding cities. The personal use of limited amounts of cannabis is tolerated in the Netherlands, although it is technically illegal. “Certainly, there are other countries that have liberal policies and are more consistent about it,” said Robert Mikos, a Vanderbilt University professor who specializes in drug law. “But because we have so many states that have legalized adult recreational or medical use, I would count the US as one of the most progressive countries.” Is the world moving towards legalizing marijuana for personal use? The push to legalize marijuana is growing in Latin America and Africa, Thorne said. A 2018 Constitutional Court ruling cleared the way for South Africa to decriminalize personal use, and President Cyril Ramaphosa said this year that his government would work to strengthen the domestic cannabis sector, Reuters reported. Peru legalized medical use in 2017 and Zimbabwe in 2018. Marijuana is one of the world’s most widely used drugs, with an estimated 147 million people — about 2 percent of the world’s population — using it annually, according to the World Health Organization. U.S. adults between the ages of 19 and 30 also used marijuana at record levels last year, the National Institutes of Health reported. But there are pockets of opposition in parts of the world, particularly in Asia. In a 2020 referendum, New Zealand voters narrowly rejected the legalization of non-medicinal cannabis. It is available there with a prescription. Singapore – whose tough drug laws extend to cannabis – also recently indicated it will not move to allow medicinal marijuana in the near future. Does the mass pardon for possession of marijuana matter globally? It can. US drug policy has long influenced how the world views marijuana. Since the 1960s, the United States has championed international conventions and treaties that required participating countries to ban recreational cannabis, said Mikos, the law professor. But now that dozens of US states have legalized cannabis for recreational or medical use, several countries “have taken it as a green light to go ahead and start experimenting,” he said.
