The Drug Policy Alliance has created a model executive order to show how the President can take action to reduce the harms caused by marijuana criminalization — such as barriers to securing a job, housing, healthcare, or SNAP food assistance — and advance federal policies that promote health and fairness.
By directing federal agencies to reduce barriers and reexamine existing policies, the President can build a fairer and healthier future for everyone, including people who have been charged with marijuana violations, veterans, small business owners, workers in the marijuana industry, medical marijuana patients, and adult consumers.
Most Americans, along with many elected leaders, agree that marijuana criminalization has been a failure. Most Americans want an end to federal marijuana criminalization and support legalizing it for adults 21 and older. They also want fair policies that repair the damage caused by criminalization, improve public health, and are enforced equally. But federal reform has lagged behind.
Although President Biden’s Department of Justice has proposed moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, this change wouldn’t fully solve the problem. Marijuana would still be illegal under federal law, meaning people could still face arrest and be denied housing, jobs, health care, and other essential services.
States have made progress over the years with policies that focus on decriminalizing, legalizing, and regulating marijuana, but federal action is needed to protect and build on these efforts.
While fully achieving these goals at the federal level will require the passage of comprehensive marijuana laws like the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act or the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), the President can take action now to reduce the harms and inequities created by marijuana criminalization and set the stage for future federal marijuana policies that promote fairness and public health.
That’s why we’ve created a model executive order on marijuana reform—to show how the President can take meaningful action now to reduce these harms.
These actions would help address some of the real life impacts of marijuana criminalization and move toward fairer policies.
The harms of criminalization, like policies that continue to result in arrests and long criminal sentences and those that block people from housing, jobs, or services for veterans, are too significant to ignore. Taking additional action isn’t just an opportunity for the President —it’s a responsibility.
FAQs can also be accessed below
DPA’s proposed executive order was designed to compel the federal government to acknowledge, mitigate and begin to reduce harms caused by federal marijuana criminalization, particularly its disproportionate impact on communities of color and other underserved communities. The proposal seeks to advance equity in federal marijuana-related policies and programs by taking action to ensure that these policies promote public health, fairness, and justice.
The federal government has a responsibility to address the harms, barriers, and racial disparities caused by marijuana criminalization. Comprehensive reform, which would fully end marijuana criminalization and achieve these goals at the federal level, ultimately would require Congress to pass legislation like the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act or the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA). However, through executive and administrative action, the President can direct meaningful steps to reduce these harms even while marijuana remains federally illegal — these actions could also serve as a catalyst for future legislative reform.
An executive order — such as the one proposed by the Drug Policy Alliance — would provide a proactive, comprehensive framework to address injustices and promote equitable access to opportunities and benefits across all communities. It would leverage existing policy, regulatory, and budgetary tools to mitigate unnecessary harms and reduce barriers, going beyond what rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III can achieve.
The executive order mandates the following:
The Council would be responsible for advising the President on strategies to acknowledge, end, and repair harms caused by federal marijuana criminalization, and will provide recommendations to advance equity and opportunity in federal marijuana policy. The National Advisory Council would consist of members representing communities disproportionately impacted by federal marijuana criminalization.
This executive order could lead to significant administrative reforms across the federal government and within federal agencies. It would ensure that marijuana-related policies are reexamined through an equity and public health lens, with a focus on mitigating public health harms and the harms of past and current criminalization. The order also directs agencies to take specific actions to reduce barriers to benefits, services, and opportunities for communities disproportionately affected by these policies. These actions can be taken, even now, while marijuana remains a Schedule I drug.
Equity Action Plans outline the specific actions the agency will take to advance equity within its policies, programs, and operations.
DPA’s proposed executive order would require agencies to create marijuana specific equity actions plans known as Cannabis Equity Action Plans. Given the unfair enforcement of current marijuana laws, these plans would seek to foster government accountability to ensure that people are treated fairly under future federal marijuana laws, policies, and programs.
The executive order requires agencies to engage with members of underserved communities throughout the process. This includes proactive engagement through listening sessions, outreach events, and other methods to ensure that the voices of those most affected by federal marijuana policies are heard and considered in policy development.
The executive order also creates a National Advisory Council that would be responsible for engaging with members of the public on issues related to federal marijuana reform.
No, this executive order does not create any new rights or benefits that are enforceable by law. It is intended to guide the operations of federal agencies and ensure that their actions align with the goals of advancing equity and mitigating the harms of federal marijuana criminalization.
Our proposal focuses on leveraging executive and administrative authority to advance equity and public health in cannabis-related policies through the use of an executive order. However, clemency remains an essential and complementary action that we urge the President to prioritize alongside the measures outlined in the proposed executive order.
Clemency refers to the President’s constitutional authority to grant pardons or commutations to individuals convicted of federal crimes. Clemency can reduce or eliminate a sentence (commutation) or restore rights by forgiving the conviction (pardon). This power is exercised through proclamations, not executive orders.
While clemency is not explicitly included in our proposed executive order — since it falls outside the scope of what an executive order can mandate — we strongly support the President using their executive authority to grant clemency to individuals currently incarcerated for or with criminal records for cannabis-related offenses.
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