Biden pardons thousands convicted of marijuana charges in D.C. and federal lands

President Biden is pardoning thousands who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana in Washington, D.C. and on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, in executive clemencies that are intended to rectify racial disparities in the justice system.

The president is also granting clemency to 11 people "who are serving disproportionately long sentences for non-violent drug offenses," he said in a statement Friday. He added that all of these individuals, had they been charged today with the same offenses, "would have been eligible to receive significantly lower sentences." 

The White House said that the 11 individuals had been sentenced to decades in prison, some for life sentences.