{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-colleagues-seek-additional-progress-on-federal-cannabis-reforms-before-end-of-biden-administration", "Wyden, Colleagues Seek Additional Progress on Federal Cannabis Reforms Before End of Biden Administration", "2024-12-04", "2024", "2024-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "OR", "Ron Wyden", "W000779", "www.wyden.senate.gov", "wyden", "https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he is urging the Biden administration to make further progress on the federal government\u2019s approach to cannabis before the end of its term.\n\nIn a letter to the Biden administration, Wyden joined with lawmakers from the Senate and House to applaud the historic steps the administration has taken to lessen the harm of cannabis criminalization and push the Administration to take additional steps before the end of its term, including issuing another round of clemency and updating the \u201cCole Memo\u201d to allow businesses and individuals in compliance with state laws to live without fear of federal prosecution.\n\n\u201cRescheduling marijuana and the prior round of pardons must not be the end of this Administration\u2019s historic work to use its executive authority to undo the damage of federal marijuana policy,\u201d wrote the lawmakers. \u201cAs we continue to work toward legislation to end the federal criminalization of marijuana and to regulate it responsibly and equitably, we urge prompt administrative action to tackle the harms of criminalization \u2014 particularly for the benefit of communities most harmed by the War on Drugs.\u201d\n\nThe Biden administration has taken landmark steps to reduce harm caused by federal marijuana policy, including through pardons for people convicted of simple marijuana possession and plans to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The lawmakers urged the Drug Enforcement Administration to complete the rescheduling process as soon as possible \u2014 also underscoring the fact that doing so would not end federal criminalization, resolve its harms, or meaningfully address the gap between federal and state policy.\n\n\u201cPossession and use of recreational marijuana \u2014 and much state-legal medical marijuana \u2014 will continue to be a violation of federal law\u2026The Biden Administration has the opportunity to further reduce the harms of marijuana\u2019s criminalization before the end of this Administration,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nThe lawmakers pushed the Administration to promptly expand clemency for individuals with marijuana-related convictions \u2014 specifically, another round of pardons and commutations to reduce sentences or end terms of incarceration \u2014 and urge state governors to expand marijuana clemency and decriminalize low-level marijuana conduct under state laws.\n\nThe lawmakers also pushed the Department of Justice to issue an updated version of the Obama-era \u201cCole Memo\u201d to deprioritize prosecuting individuals for marijuana offenses that have been the subject of federal pardons or that comply with state or tribal law.\n\nIn addition to Wyden, the letter was led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Representatives Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.\n\nThe letter was signed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, D-N.M., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Cory Booker, N-N.J., and Representatives James McGovern, D-Mass., Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-colleagues-seek-additional-progress-on-federal-cannabis-reforms-before-end-of-biden-administration"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0711981449276209, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}