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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Olympia, WA: Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee announced on Friday his intent to provide an expedited process for granting clemency to those with past marijuana-related convictions.
Under the proposed plan, those convicted of a marijuana misdemeanor after January 1, 1998 will have their records vacated. It is estimated that 3,500 individuals will be eligible for expungement.
“For decades, people have faced criminal prosecution for behavior that is no longer considered a crime in Washington,” the Inslee administration stated in a press release. “[F]orgiving these convictions will allow people to move on with their lives without these convictions causing additional burdens on people, their families, their employers and their communities. This is a small step, but one that moves us in the direction of correcting injustices that disproportionately affected communities of color. A successful pardon of a marijuana possession conviction can assist with barriers to housing, employment and education.”
Last year, California lawmakers enacted legislation mandating the automatic review and sealing of past marijuana-related convictions. In November, the newly elected Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer (D), publicly announced her intent to take executive action to automatically pardon former marijuana offenders.
“Our sense of justice and our principles of fairness demand that officials move swiftly to right the past wrongs of cannabis prohibition and criminalization,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “It makes no sense to continue to punish people for actions that are no longer considered to be criminal in nature.”