A blanket pardon of cannabis-related conviction will help to clean up some of the mess impacting the state of Maryland due to cannabis laws that disproportionately affect communities of color. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced Monday that he will be issuing pardons for over 175,000 cannabis convictions, in an executive order.
“I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moored told the Washington Post. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”
Moore is the only Black governor of any U.S. state, and the mass pardon falls on the same week as Juneteenth—a national holiday that symbolizes the end of slavery. The symbolic move to pardon cannabis convictions that impact communities of color greater sends a message.
Over 150,000 of the convictions eligible for pardon are misdemeanors for simple possession of cannabis, and another 18,000 misdemeanors are for use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia. The city of Baltimore alone makes up about a quarter of the entire list of convictions being pardoned, the governor’s office said. Gov. Moore released a video of the executive order announcement Monday.
A pardon is defined as an act of complete forgiveness that absolves a person from the guilt of a criminal offense, and only a governor has the constitutional power to grant pardons. And while a pardon restores the civil liberties that are lost as a result of a conviction, it doesn’t expunge a person’s criminal record. The record remains.
Cannabis-related criminal records end up preventing people from getting employment, housing, and education. And as states legalize adult-use of cannabis, others remain behind bars or …
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Author: Benjamin M. Adams / High Times
