This week in our short news segment President Biden has pardoned all federal simple cannabis possession charges and urges state governors to pardon and expunge for the same offense on a state level. The #Texas MJ March and Freedom Festival took place in Fort Worth. @DFW NORML executive director Shaun McAllister speaks on Greg Abbott’s response to cannabis pardons. Audio player (for those on the go) and YouTube video included below (see the turnout of the event!).
President Joe Biden announced that he was pardoning anybody with a federal cannabis charge for simple possession.
The move by Biden will pardon roughly 6500 people that were charged with possession between 1992 and 2021. Biden has also urged governors to do the same thing within their states.
Udi Ofer, a Princeton University professor and former deputy national political director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said simple possession of marijuana is a crime “almost entirely prosecuted by the states.” The federal government tends to more commonly prosecute marijuana trafficking crimes, he said to the NYT.
“This is an important political statement, it’s an important value statement, it’s progress but this is a drop in the ocean of injustice,” Mr. Ofer said
Check out the rest of the information on the article here.
Thousands attended the Texas Marijuana March and Freedom Festival in Fort Worth, TX.
The event itself likely saw about 2 thousand people attending the event. Roughly between 700 to a 1000 people were involved in the march that took place from Burnett Park to the downtown Tarrant County courthouse steps. Fort Worth Police Provided an escort for the marchers to ensure safety from traffic and counter protesters that may have become involved.
Throughout the day, at the park there were DJ’s and guest speakers in-between their sets to speak about the nature of the movement in Texas. Once at the courthouse, Shaun McAllister of DFW NORML, Austin Zamhariri of Texas Cannabis Collective, and Amos Lozano of Famous Juice Co spoke on the courthouse steps about the state of Texas affairs.
The group then marched back to Burnett Park and finished out the event with live performers.
Our YouTube channel and other social media accounts outlet plan to post more footage of the event of the course of the next week, so be sure to subscribe and give a like so that you will see more of this content in your feed. This also helps you stay up to date on upcoming events in Texas.
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