Expungement

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.

Internal polling data from Missouri NORML shows that 62% of voters are likely to back the state’s adult-use cannabis reforms during the November elections.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signed a package of cannabis industry reform bills which includes provisions for tax reforms, expungement, social equity, and changes to industry fees.

District attorneys in New Mexico have started to review prior cannabis charges for expungement, a requirement of legislation that accompanied the state’s cannabis legalization law.

The Marijuana Misdemeanor Expungement Act, a bipartisan House proposal filed last week, would facilitate the expungement of low-level federal cannabis misdemeanors.

The Illinois Equal Justice Foundation has awarded $1.4 million in grants to 18 organizations to help expunge cannabis-related criminal records.

The U.S. Senate’s long-awaited cannabis legalization bill was finally filed this morning by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Cory Booker (D-NJ).

The American Medical Association is calling on states that have legalized or decriminalized cannabis to expunge criminal records due to the overbearing impacts on potential physicians’ lives.  

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) has signed the state’s adult-use legalization bill, making Rhode Island the 19th state in the union to legalize recreational cannabis.

Rhode Island lawmakers passed the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization bill on Tuesday. The bill includes provisions for homegrows and the automatic expungement of prior cannabis possession charges.

Cleveland, Ohio officials have filed motions to expunge over 4,000 cannabis-related criminal convictions dating back to 2017.

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives today passed the MORE Act to federally legalize cannabis in a bipartisan vote.

Montana’s Supreme Court has approved temporary rules for expunging or revising prior cannabis convictions as required by the state’s voter-approved adult-use cannabis law.

A Vermont bill would expand the list of crimes eligible for expungement, including low-level drug crimes and misdemeanor convictions but excluding violent crimes.

The Israeli government is considering a cannabis reforms package that would decriminalize personal possession and allow for the expungement of past offenses.

The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill to decriminalize cannabis possession in the state and expunge prior cannabis charges.