White House Press Secretary Falsely Says Biden ‘Expunged’ Marijuana Convictions, A Claim That’s Been Repeatedly Debunked

Asked in a new interview whether the Biden administration would consider expunging federal criminal convictions related to cannabis, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre incorrectly said the president had already taken that action. She also mentioned the government’s planned move of marijuana to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act and appeared to imply that cannabis is safer than cocaine.

Jean-Pierre was talking to author and professor Wendy Osefo, host of The Dr. Wendy Show, who recently visited the White House. In part of the interview, Osefo said that her husband started his own cannabis company.

“Now that cannabis is becoming legal in some states,” she asked, “is there a conversation within this administration to expunge cannabis-related convictions.”

Jean-Pierre replied that Biden “has expunged on the federal level, been able to get that done.”

In fact, the Biden administration has not expunged federal cannabis-related criminal convictions—something the president himself finally acknowledged this past May after repeatedly claiming the opposite.

Biden has repeatedly touted the mass cannabis pardons he granted, signaling the campaign’s understanding of the popularity of marijuana reform. But in the past, he’s falsely suggested that the pardons did expunge records—making the claim during his State of the Union address this year, for example.

The distinction between pardons and expungements was flagged by the Congressional Research Service in 2022, in a report that said that a “pardon may not remove all legal consequences of marijuana possession, because it does not expunge convictions.”

Jean-Pierre’s response in the new interview similarly overlooks that crucial distinction.

In any case, the press secretary then pivoted to rescheduling.

“We are looking at rescheduling, right?” Jean-Pierre said. “There’s something that is happening and that is moving forward, but that is something the president is very serious about, OK?”

She also repeated the administration’s refrain that “people should not be in prison for the use of marijuana only.”

“It was part of his campaign in 2020 and he’s already taken action on that,” she said, without acknowledging that no one has been released from incarceration as a result of Biden’s pardons.

Jean-Pierre then appeared to try to downplay the seriousness of marijuana compared to substances typically seen as harder drugs.

“It is not— Cocaine is not marijuana,” she said. “It is just not the same.”

New episode of The Dr. Wendy Show is now LIVE!! I get to sit down with @K_JeanPierre & discuss everything from the #BidenHarris policy for Black America to Cannabis Reform (shoutout @HappyEddie__) click link below to watch #RHOP https://t.co/FWhUFNEWBp pic.twitter.com/CR8ggMc9ut

— Dr. Wendy Osefo (@WendyOsefo) October 14, 2024

Following the somewhat scattershot response, Osefo noted that historical enforcement of cannabis prohibition has fallen disproportionately on communities of color, especially Black and brown people.

“And he’s said that,” Jean-Pierre jumped in. “We’ve actually said it affects disproportionately Black and brown communities, and we need to take a look at that.”

Biden’s pardons of people with federal marijuana possession records represent formal forgiveness from the government. The Justice Department has been distributing certificates to eligible people who apply for the largely symbolic documents, but the move doesn’t seal court records.

In correspondence to recipients, the pardon attorney’s office said the certificate “is proof that you were pardoned under the proclamation.”

“The pardon means that you’re forgiven, but you still have a criminal record,” it clarifies.

And while Biden might have since adjusted his rhetoric to reflect the realities of the clemency action, he hasn’t indicated that he’s willing to offer relief for offenses beyond simple possession. In fact, he’s specifically said that growing or distributing cannabis is “a different deal.”

On that issue, there are still people in federal prison over non-violent marijuana offenses. Advocates have pushed the Biden administration to take further action, including keeping his key cannabis campaign pledge to decriminalize marijuana.

On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to federally legalize marijuana, ensuring that access to cannabis is “the law of the land.”

If elected, she will “break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back by legalizing marijuana nationally, working with Congress to ensure that the safe cultivation, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana is the law of the land,” the Harris campaign said.

The Democratic presidential nominee’s cannabis plan to “legalize marijuana at the federal level to break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back” is part of what her campaign calls an “opportunity agenda” aimed at winning the votes of African-American men in particular.

To that end, the campaign says Harris will “fight to ensure that as the national cannabis industry takes shape, Black men—who have, for years, been overpoliced for marijuana use—are able to access wealth and jobs in this new market.”

In contrast, the VP’s new plan says that former President Donald Trump’s administration “threatened federal prosecutions for marijuana in states where marijuana use is legal, continuing the unjust and disproportionate use of marijuana possession laws to put Black Americans behind bars.”

That appears to be a reference to his first attorney general’s removal of Obama-era enforcement guidance that generally directed prosecutors to respect state cannabis laws. There was no large scale crackdown on state-legal marijuana businesses in the wake of that move, however.

Last month, Harris made clear she still supports legalizing cannabis, which she previously pushed for as a senator but had not publicly discussed since becoming President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.

Also last month, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz said he thinks marijuana legalization is an issue that should be left to individual states, adding that electing more Democrats to Congress could also make it easier to pass federal reforms like cannabis banking protections.

Meanwhile former President Donald Trump (R) said recently during his campaign for a second term that he now supports federal marijuana rescheduling and marijuana banking access.

“As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws, including safe banking for state authorized companies, and supporting states rights to pass marijuana laws, like in Florida, that work so well for their citizens,” Trump posted to social media last month.

Trump also recently discussed the medical benefits of cannabis and said legalization would be “very good” for Florida, which will consider the reform at the ballot box in November’s election.

The Harris–Walz campaign, however, has accused Trump of lying about his support for marijuana reform—arguing that his “blatant pandering” runs counter to his administration’s record on cannabis.

Following Trump’s recent announcement of support for the Florida cannabis legalization ballot measure, the Democratic campaign has been working to remind voters that while in office, Trump “took marijuana reform backwards.”

The posturing by the presidential candidates comes amid an ongoing process of moving marijuana to the less-restrictive Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) this spring recommended moving the drug to Schedule III, but the action has faced resistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which has scheduled a hearing on the proposal for December 2—after the presidential election, raising concerns that the process will not be completed until after a new president is inaugurated.

As president, Trump largely stayed true to his position that marijuana laws should be handled at the state-level, with no major crackdown on cannabis programs as some feared after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Obama era federal enforcement guidance. In fact, Trump criticized the top DOJ official and suggested the move should be reversed.

While he was largely silent on the issue of legalization, he did tentatively endorse a bipartisan bill to codify federal policy respecting states’ rights to legalize.

That said, on several occasions he released signing statements on spending legislation stipulating that he reserved the right to ignore a long-standing rider that prohibits the Justice Department from using its funds to interfere with state-legal medical marijuana programs.