Mike Tyson Slams Biden, Asks Him To Free Thousands Locked up Over Marijuana: ‘Right These Wrongs’

Boxing legend Mike Tyson is calling out President Joe Biden over a very important issue: the incarceration of people of color over marijuana offenses.

In a letter to the White House, Tyson is pleading with Biden to honor his pledge to “correct our country’s failed approach to marijuana” and grant clemency to the thousands of nonviolent cannabis offenders who are currently being held in federal prisons. The "war on marijuana is over," Tyson emphasized in his letter, per The Spun.

"I write in support of granting clemency to marijuana offenders still incarcerated in federal prison and restoring civil rights to those haunted by a federal marijuana conviction," Tyson said in his letter. "Today, I join the Weldon Project, Drake, Killer Mike, T.I., Deion Sanders, Bella Thorne, Jim Brown, and many others in calling upon you to end the madness of federal marijuana prohibition."

The letter further records the historical injustices towards people of color languishing in prisons. "The U.S. government should no longer use marijuana as a reason to lock people up. The first step is to release the remaining people incarcerated federally under America’s war on marijuana and to wipe the slate clean for those convicted of federal marijuana offenses."

In the US, sales of legal cannabis might eventually top $40 billion a year, per The Guardian. Over 2,000 individuals—overwhelmingly people of color—are serving prison sentences in federal facilities for offenses that are now practically lawful in almost half of the US, with 24 states having legalized recreational cannabis use. Data is shaky, but campaigners estimate that 30,000 more people are incarcerated in state penitentiaries for nonviolent cannabis charges.

A 2020 analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union, concluded, “Black people are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, notwithstanding comparable usage rates.” Authors reported, “In every single state, Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and in some states, Black people were up to six, eight, or almost ten times more likely to be arrested. In 31 states, racial disparities were larger in 2018 than they were in 2010.”

Although Biden doesn't have the authority to pardon those convicts, Tyson begged the president to put pressure on states to grant pardons. “President Biden has the power to effect real change – he can right these wrongs and grant clemency to those who are sitting in prison for cannabis offenses,” Tyson told The Guardian. “We know the failed war on drugs was wrong and no one should be sitting in jail for cannabis. It’s time our country moves forward and ends cannabis prohibition once and for all.”

Biden has been previously accused of deceiving voters about marijuana. In October 2022, he declared, “No one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana.” But, many Black persons still languish in jail over non-violent crimes, and in this election, many are pleading with his campaign to free these prisoners.