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PartialCriminal Justice, Policing & Public Safety

decriminalize the use of cannabis and automatically expunge all prior cannabis use convictions

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PartialFact-checker reviewConfidence: 72%

Independently re-verified. All three cited sources are real, live, and accurately quoted: the archived White House proclamation (Dec 22, 2023) grants a full pardon for 'simple possession of marijuana, attempted simple possession of marijuana, or use of marijuana'; FactCheck.org confirms 'the pardon does not expunge a conviction' and that it 'only applies to federal charges and convictions, including violations of D.C. criminal code' (no state cases); and MPP documents the May 2024 DEA proposed rule to move cannabis to Schedule III. An independent adjudicator, PolitiFact's Biden Promise Tracker, rates this exact promise 'Compromise' (the direct analog of PARTIAL) and notes the rescheduling process stalled awaiting DOJ review and was never finalized. Neither promised outcome was fully delivered: cannabis was NOT decriminalized (rescheduling to Schedule III is not decriminalization, and even that was only proposed, not finalized), and convictions were NOT automatically expunged (pardons explicitly do not clear records) and reach only federal/DC cases, not the state convictions that are the vast majority. But Biden personally issued real mass-pardon relief affecting thousands and directed the scheduling review, so this is a genuine partial keep, not a mere attempt. PARTIAL is nonpartisan-fair: a politician of either party with an identical record (mass pardons for a class, an unfinished scheduling review, no decriminalization or expungement) would earn the same 'kept some, not all' label.

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