New Jersey Cannabis

Because they’re saying that all Black people should be grateful…

I'm not seeing the word "grateful" in the article, but I would think that equal treatment under the law would be a goal of all groups. Law enforcement today doesn't do this today. Biden's actions with this are a small step in bending back toward equal treatment.

Not all Black people smoke weed, or even think it should be legal.

Of course not, but this isn't about advocating for legalization of marijuana, but of blacks unfairly incarcerated when the same situation someone of another race being let go by law enforcement.

Wouldn’t pardoning be a fast-track to give those arrested justice and their freedom back as fast as possible?

Wouldn’t federal decriminalization (which would lead to more state legalization) be an actual solution?

"Perfect is the enemy of good". I don't want someone unjustly sitting in jail while the wheels of politics try to find the perfect solution. I'm happy with any steps to apply the laws equally. More is better, but I'm not going to deny a small step if its a step forward.

Isn’t one of the main arguments Biden has against student loan forgiveness that it wouldn’t stop more students from getting debt?

Nope. Biden is one advocating for federal student loan forgiveness. His administration has forgiven $132 billion for more than 3.6 million borrowers. The position you're talking about in opposition is the republican stance. source

Yet here, suddenly that’s fine. Pardon a small percent but leave it illegal so that there’s a constant new stream of people who deserve pardons?

Why not just fix the underlying issue?

I agree the underlying issue of unequally applied laws needs to be fixed, but that doesn't happen overnight and there are strong forces working against fixing it. The power of pardon is something fully within his power to do. It requires no permission or compromise with another party. He had the power, and did it. Its one of the few places it works that pay in politics.

Or just have the smallest bit of logical consistency and admit that if this is a valid solution, so is forgiving student loan debt without preventing the next generation from being taken advantage of?

I addressed that above. Small steps forward today don't preclude larger ones later. We don't have to solve the ENTIRE problem to address part of it or reduce the suffering today the problem causes. Biden's stance in both student loan forgiveness and this pardoning share that consistency.