WUNC: “North Carolina’s two top Democratic state officials are urging the Republican-led legislature to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in light of President Joe Biden’s pardon Thursday of thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” under federal law.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein, the state’s top lawyer who is considering a run for governor in 2024, shared their support for the president’s decision at a Friday task force meeting on racial equity and criminal justice.
Established by Cooper in June 2020 after George Floyd’s murder, the 24-member panel of law enforcement officers, attorneys, civil rights advocates and state officials had recommended in a 2020 report that state lawmakers replace the misdemeanor charge for possessing up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana with a civil offense on par with a traffic infraction.
The General Assembly did not act on this recommendation.”