Swordsmyth
01-04-2019, 10:57 PM
Washington state will create a streamlined system to pardon people convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession before the drug was legal, under an initiative launched on Friday by Governor Jay Inslee, who is considering a run for U.S. president.Voters in Washington state and Colorado in 2012 made their two states the first in the United States to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Since then, eight other states have followed suit, while more than 30 states allow the use of medical marijuana. Federal law still bans cannabis.
"We shouldn't be punishing people for something that is no longer illegal in Washington state," Inslee, a Democrat, said in a written statement.
Under the governor's so-called Marijuana Justice Initiative, anyone with a single misdemeanor marijuana conviction in Washington state between 1998 and 2012 could apply for a pardon.
An estimated 3,500 people are eligible, according to Inslee's office.
Since 2014, at least 10 states have passed laws to expunge certain marijuana convictions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
A measure in the Washington state legislature that would have erased certain misdemeanor marijuana convictions failed to pass last year.
In the absence of that legislation, Inslee exercised his executive authority to create a pardon system, said his spokeswoman Jaime Smith. It applies only to people with a single conviction because officials did not want to be overwhelmed with applications, she said.
More at: https://news.yahoo.com/washington-governor-pardon-pot-crimes-six-years-legalization-005707298.html
"We shouldn't be punishing people for something that is no longer illegal in Washington state," Inslee, a Democrat, said in a written statement.
Under the governor's so-called Marijuana Justice Initiative, anyone with a single misdemeanor marijuana conviction in Washington state between 1998 and 2012 could apply for a pardon.
An estimated 3,500 people are eligible, according to Inslee's office.
Since 2014, at least 10 states have passed laws to expunge certain marijuana convictions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
A measure in the Washington state legislature that would have erased certain misdemeanor marijuana convictions failed to pass last year.
In the absence of that legislation, Inslee exercised his executive authority to create a pardon system, said his spokeswoman Jaime Smith. It applies only to people with a single conviction because officials did not want to be overwhelmed with applications, she said.
More at: https://news.yahoo.com/washington-governor-pardon-pot-crimes-six-years-legalization-005707298.html