Biden’s pot pardons likely to have little effect in Illinois, but federal review of drug could have an impact, experts say

President Joe Biden’s announcement Thursday that he plans to pardon low-level federal marijuana possession convictions will likely have a small effect in Illinois, where thousands of people have already been pardoned.

But Biden’s plan to review the classification that makes cannabis illegal federally could have a profound effect — good or bad — on the industry in Illinois and nationwide, a leading legalization advocate said.

“This is the single biggest achievement for the industry in the last decade on a political level,” said Aaron Smith, CEO and founder of the National Cannabis Industry Association.

Biden announced that he would pardon all prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana. The action would help an estimated 6,500 people who have convictions and may be denied employment, housing or education as a result.

The president asked the nation’s governors to do the same for states, which are responsible for the vast majority of cannabis convictions. When recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois in 2020, Gov. J.B. Pritzker pardoned more than 9,000 people who had been convicted of low-level marijuana crimes, and state police expunged nearly half a million cases. That figure now stands at 800,000, Pritzker said Thursday in a tweet that lauded Biden’s actions, which the governor said were overdue.

Edie Moore, a founding board member of Chicago NORML and a cannabis business owner, said a pardon of only simple possession would be very limited, but could reduce some sentences and was “a step in the right direction.”

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, in a statement, said Biden’s actions would be especially beneficial to those in minority communities

“I am heartened to see the Biden administration take this momentous step toward justice and equity,” Foxx said. “It has been long understood that the war on drugs was a war on Black and Brown communities. This step, which mirrors efforts passed here in Illinois in 2019, is well overdue and a historic first step to repair the harm caused to these communities.”

Biden also announced that he’s asking the secretary of health and human services and the attorney general to review “expeditiously” how marijuana is treated under federal law. Now, the Controlled Substances Act classifies “marihuana” in Schedule I, meant for substances with a high potential for abuse leading to severe addiction, and no medical use.

This is the same schedule as for heroin and LSD, and higher than the classification of fentanyl and methamphetamine — the drugs driving the U.S. overdose epidemic, Biden said.

Removing cannabis from the schedule of the most dangerous drugs could in effect legalize it, leaving states to regulate it, which would have a huge impact.

But reclassifying it to Schedule II or III could cause more harm, Smith said. It could require approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, limit its use to the pharmaceutical industry, kill small businesses and disrupt state programs, he said.

Jeremy Unruh, senior vice president for public and regulatory affairs for PharmaCann, a cannabis company based in Chicago, said Biden’s action fulfills his campaign promises, and seems to be laying the groundwork for state expungements.

“Rescheduling is a trickier and far more complex operation,” Unruh told the Tribune. “Not only does it (require) notice-and-comment federal agency rule changes that take many months, but the Schedule III designation is not optimal for most state-licensed cannabis companies, regardless of size.”

The Marijuana Policy Project issued a statement welcoming the changes: “In addition to helping to improve the lives of thousands of individuals under federal law, we hope this change in approach will signal a complete end to the criminalization of cannabis possession under federal law.”

The national advocacy group Smart Approaches to Marijuana ( has said it favors decriminalization of minor possession and expungements.

But SAM President Kevin Sabet downplayed Biden’s announcement. “‘It could be spun as looking pretty big. I think in reality it’s quite modest,” he said, adding that he expects “the legalization movement will be disappointed.”