Expungement

Federal lawmakers recently introduced the Marijuana Misdemeanor Expungement Act, a bipartisan House proposal seeking to create an expungement mechanism for low-level, non-felony violations of federal cannabis laws.

Cannabis policy reforms in the U.S. have led to about 2.5 million pardons or expungements for cannabis-related convictions, according to a recent NORML tally.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore this weekend announced sweeping cannabis pardons for about 100,000 people in the state in one of the largest gubernatorial cannabis pardoning actions to date.

Despite the federal government estimating some 10,000 citizens would be eligible for conviction relief when Canada legalized cannabis, just 845 pardons for cannabis crimes have been issued since 2019.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Records indicated that the state will be ready to expunge more than 60,000 misdemeanor cannabis convictions in May under last year’s adult-use legalization law.

Missouri has expunged nearly 100,000 cannabis convictions as part of the state’s adult-use cannabis constitutional amendment approved last year by voters.

The Rhode Island Judiciary has so far expunged 23,000 cannabis possession criminal records under the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization bill, which was signed into law over a year ago.

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that some cannabis distribution convictions are eligible for expungement under the state’s adult-use legalization law.

A North Carolina legalization proposal would expunge prior cannabis-related convictions, allow adult home grows of up to six plants, and carry a 20% excise tax on cannabis sales.

Missouri’s legal system has expunged more than 15,000 cannabis misdemeanors and felonies since voters approved the state’s adult-use legalization proposal last year.

Individuals affected by the sweeping federal cannabis pardons announced by President Biden last year can now apply to receive a certificate proving that they received the pardon.

Cannabis MSO Ayr Wellness is holding cannabis expungement clinics in five states — Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania — next weekend, February 24-25.

A Kansas proposal would aid individuals with cannabis-related convictions by expunging charges and releasing anyone still serving probation, parole, prison, or jail sentences.

For the first time ever, a Minnesota Senate committee heard testimony this week related to a cannabis legalization proposal — similar bills have passed the House but were blocked in the formerly Republican-controlled Senate.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) issued 2,540 pardons — 627 of which were for cannabis-related crimes — during his two terms as governor.

Minnesota lawmakers’ proposal to legalize adult-use cannabis includes social equity considerations, home grow provisions, and an additional 8% tax on cannabis products.

Maryland’s voter-approved cannabis legalization law has taken partial effect and adults aged 21+ will no longer face charges for possessing up to an ounce of cannabis.

Top Senate Democrats are reportedly set to attach language from the SAFE Banking Act that would normalize the cannabis industry’s access to banking services to a “must-pass” end-of-year bill like the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

Missouri’s cannabis legalization law has the potential to automatically expunge more than 100,000 low-level cannabis possession cases.

New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Bacon wants individuals to file their own expungement applications instead of requiring the state’s judicial branch to find eligible cases, a change to the current legalization law. 

A Missouri Democratic representative formed a coalition this week opposing the state’s cannabis legalization ballot measure over its lack of social equity measures, its proposed fines for smoking cannabis in public, and issues with its automatic expungement provisions.