The Oregon Senate approved a bill last week that would allow for certain marijuana-related convictions to be expunged. Filed as emergency legislation, the bill will take effect immediately if it is passed.
Senate Bill 364, which passed the Senate by a vote of 26 to 3, aims to help those convicted of cannabis possession before the law was changed in 2013 to clean up their record. Each of the three dissenting votes came from Republican senators — Alan Olson (R-Canby), Chuck Thomsen (R-Hood River) and Doug Whitsett (R-Klamath Falls).
Until the bill goes into effect, getting a conviction reclassified into a lower-level offense is only possible if the conviction took place after July 1st, 2013, when the law was changed. Under the new bill, when a person requests an expungement of something on his or her record, judges will be required to take into consideration the new law’s reclassification of certain marijuana-related
offenses.
In addition, the bill would put into effect a provision that would allow for the reclassification of Class B felony convictions for marijuana possession as misdemeanors.
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Photo Credit: mike krzeszak
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