WASHINGTON >> President Joe Biden said he would commute the sentences of 11 people who had been jailed for nonviolent drug offenses and pardon convictions for marijuana use and possession on federal lands as part of a broader effort by his administration to address racial disparities in drug sentencing.

Each of the clemency recipients would have been eligible for shorter sentencing under current laws, Biden said in a statement Friday. Their original sentences — characterized by Biden as “disproportionately long” — ranged from decades to life in prison for attempting to distribute drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine, according to a list published by the White House.

Biden also said he had pardoned more offenses involving possession of marijuana under federal law and D.C. law, which builds on his decision last year to pardon thousands of people who had been convicted of marijuana possession under federal law. The new pardons would apply to people found guilty of using or attempting to possess marijuana on federal lands, in addition to simple possession, according to a presidential proclamation issued Friday.

Such offenses are outnumbered by those at the state level, which Biden does not have the authority to pardon.

“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana,” Biden said. “It’s time that we right these wrongs.” He also urged governors to review state offenses to further expand the number of people who could be eligible for similar pardons.

Biden’s actions are meant to address disparities between the sentences faced by White Americans and those imposed on Black and Latinos, and to appeal to the majority of Americans who believe marijuana should be legalized. As an election year approaches, Biden and his advisers are also trying to draw a sharper contrast with former President Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner.

Also campaigning for a second term, Trump’s rhetoric on crime has grown more violent. He has said he admires the freedom that despots have to execute drug dealers.