President Biden pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession on Oct. 6. This decision will impact thousands of innocent Americans convicted for a crime grounded in baseless fear-mongering and institutional racism. The White House estimates about 6,500 people since 1992 had such convictions. It is also far from enough of what is needed for criminal justice reform.

First to note is that this decision will only impact those convicted of a federal crime. Remember, the federal government has no jurisdiction over individual states’ weed laws. To be federally convicted means one was found with weed on federal property, such as a national park, or colleges that receive federal funding (that means us, Lakers). Simple marijuana possession refers to a small amount of cannabis in someone’s possession with no intention of sale or distribution. 

This means that the total number of people who will be freed from federal prisons for having weed is a big fat zero. There are currently no individuals serving federal time solely for simple marijuana possession. In fact, pardons will not even erase the conviction from people’s records. What will be erased are “civic disabilities” associated with a conviction, so former convicts will now regain the right to vote, to sit on a jury, and to hold office.

However, this is still a big triumph for the weed legalization movement. Biden’s decision will certainly spark a wave of similar state-level decisions, and with such a major announcement this far into his presidency, it would not be too late to predict a nationwide legalization of marijuana.

But one should not get ahead of themselves. This is what Xavier Becerra, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, calls “a drop in the bucket.” The fact that weed is still a Schedule I drug, while cocaine and meth are Schedule II, shows how little the government cares about justice when trying to preserve a pearl-clutcher’s ballot. The days of “Reefer Madness” are long past; grown adults should be aware by now that the presence of weed in a community does not unleash a wave of drugged up maniacs spoiling the youth and shedding their dignity. If this was the case then Oswego would have burnt to the ground a long time ago. 

No, weed is just an excuse for aimless dopes to drown out their responsibilities with wasteful indulgence and irrational excuses. But why should that bar them from basic human rights? One can wield that same sentence of criticism against wrinkly OnlyFans subscribers and Swifties who will inevitably buy every copy of “Midnights” they can find. Yet nobody would argue for jailing these degenerates who have committed far worse than any local pot dealer. 

The difference with drug laws is that the government made them with a certain demographic in mind: people of color and political activists. While the narrative of drug laws being protectors of the children from nefarious gangsters still persists in Boomer-dominated counties, the reality is that drug enforcement targeting black and Hispanic Americans is an arm of systemic racism intrinsic to our justice system.

While one should whole-heartedly appreciate these new pardons, in order to enact actual justice toward victims of draconic drug laws in this country, we need full legalization and reparations for all whose lives were ruined over a stinky plant.

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