VP Contacts Pardon Recipients

Vice President Kamala Harris’ office is reportedly reaching out to recipients of President Joe Biden’s federal cannabis pardons for updates on the process. In 2022 Biden announced that he was issuing pardons for federal charges of simple cannabis possession. Last year, the president expanded the pardon to include federal marijuana use charges.

According to Marijuana Moment, cannabis activist Chris Goldstein, who was one of thousands to receive the presidential pardon for a 2014 marijuana possession case, says staffers with the vice president’s office scheduled a meeting with him to discuss the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) certification process and other policy issues.

Goldstein told reporters the staffers discussed rescheduling marijuana versus descheduling and the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment Expungement (MORE) Act.

He also said he told staff that the pardons did not actually expunge recipients’ records. Staffers reportedly did not make any commitments during the meeting.

Biden has repeatedly claimed incorrectly that his pardon proclamation cleared the records for recipients. He has also incorrectly claimed that it released prisoners from incarceration.

It’s unclear why Harris’ office reached out to Goldstein and other pardon recipients instead of the president’s staff.

Germany Set to Legalize

Following long delays due to opposition, a bill to legalize marijuana in Germany is on the nation’s legislative agenda. Lawmakers say they’re looking to enact reforms by April.

If passed into law, the bill will allow adults to cultivate up to three weed plants for private use and carry up to 25 grams. It would also regulate cultivation and consumption at nonprofit marijuana clubs limited to 500 members each. The law would go into effect April 1.

If Germany follows through, it could have major ramifications for other countries in Europe. It would be the third country in the European Union— and the most politically powerful—to legalize weed.

FDA Studied Social Media Pot Posts

A new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report says the agency reviewed social media posts to help inform its decision to reschedule cannabis.

According to the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Drug Safety Analysis Report Fiscal Year 2023, one of CDER’s studies involved a “detailed qualitative analysis of online and social media conversations occurring about marijuana.”

This six-month study involved manually analyzing hundreds of publicly available social media posts to provide context directly from users. The researchers looked for posts discussing weed’s effectiveness for therapeutic purposes including anorexia, anxiety, nausea and pain, its benefits and negative effects, users’ experiences with access and nonmedical uses.

The report says CDER also completed a review of various data sources regarding marijuana efficacy before making its recommendation to reschedule the drug under the Controlled Substances Act. ■