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US President Joe Biden announced pardons for thousands of Americans charged with simple possession of marijuana under federal law.
美国总统乔·拜登宣布赦免数千名只是简单持有大麻而被控联邦罪行的美国人。
His comments came ready made for social media.
他已经在社交媒体上解释了原因。
As I said when I ran for president, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana.
正如我竞选总统时所说，任何人都不应该仅仅因为使用或持有大麻而入狱。
It's already legal in many states and criminal records for marijuana possession have led to needless barriers to employment, to housing, and educational opportunities.
这在许多州都已经是合法的，持有大麻的犯罪记录已经给就业、住房和教育机会带来了不必要的障碍。
And that's before you address the racial disparities around who suffers the consequences.
在解决就谁承受后果产生的种族差异问题之前，要先解决这个问题。
Dozens of states, several US territories, and Washington DC already have some form of marijuana legalization.
数十个州、几个美国领土和华盛顿特区已经以某种形式实现了大麻合法化。
Biden's plan only affects those who possess small amounts, not those who manufactured or distributed, and their arrests cannot have involved another crime like robbery or assault.
拜登的计划只赦免那些拥有少量毒品的罪犯，而不是那些制造或分销毒品的罪犯，而且赦免的罪犯不包括因涉及抢劫或袭击等其他罪行而被捕的人。
But some of the president's usual critics like Republican Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton took to Twitter calling this a desperate attempt to distract from failed leadership.
但一些经常批评拜登的人，如阿肯色州共和党参议员汤姆·科顿在推特上称，这是拜登在孤注一掷，试图转移人们对他失败领导的注意力。
The White House says the pardons give a second chance that people with criminal records for pot possession that hurt their chances at employment or housing.
白宫表示，赦免能够给有持有大麻犯罪记录的人第二次机会，这些犯罪记录阻碍了他们就业或拥有住房。
It's part of a bigger push from Biden to change how marijuana is classified in the US.
拜登这一措施背后更大的目标是改变美国对大麻的分类方式。
At the moment, marijuana is classified as the same level as drugs like heroin.
目前，大麻被归类为与海洛因等毒品同级别的毒品。
That doesn't make sense as the president said.
就像拜登说的，这不合理。
So he's working to reschedule marijuana.
所以他正在努力改变大麻的类别。
He also knows that too many people especially in the Hispanic and Black community have been impacted by federal marijuana laws for just possessing marijuana.
他还知道，有太多的人，尤其是拉美裔和黑人社区的人，仅仅因为持有大麻而违反联邦大麻法律。
There are currently zero federal prisoners held for simple possession.
目前没有仅因持有毒品而被关押的联邦囚犯。
But since most marijuana-related convictions happen on the state level, Biden has begun urging both Democratic and Republican Governors again to issue pardons in their states.
但由于大多数与大麻有关的定罪都发生在州一级，拜登已开始再次敦促民主党和共和党州长在各自的州发布赦免令。
And while a pardon would not expunge a person's criminal record, it would remove obstacles like those to the right to vote or sit on a jury.
虽然赦免不会消除一个人的犯罪记录，但可以消除投票权或成为陪审团成员资格方面的障碍。
Despite asking federal agencies to review marijuana's classification, which currently ranks it as more dangerous than fentanyl, Biden has so far stopped short of calling for national decriminalization of the plant.
尽管拜登要求联邦机构启动对大麻的分类审查，（目前大麻被列为比芬太尼更危险的毒品）但拜登到目前为止还没有呼吁在全国范围内将大麻合法化。
