Gov. Wes Moore (center) has an executive order granting pardons to at least 175,000 people with marijuana-related convictions. “Legalization does not erase the fact that prior to legalization, Black Marylanders were three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white Marylanders,” Gov. Moore said.
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Screenshot via NPR
Maryland Governor Wes Moore has pardoned more than 175,000 people convicted of marijuana-related crimes, in what he called “the most sweeping state-level pardons issued by any state in American history.”
The massive pardon comes a year after Maryland legalized recreational marijuana use, with more than 150,000 cases, most of them misdemeanors. Guilty There are more than 17,000 convictions for marijuana possession and more than 18,000 convictions for possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia.
“We cannot reap the benefits of legalization without addressing the consequences of criminalization,” Governor Moore, a Democrat, said Monday before signing an executive order issuing the amnesty.
The governor’s office did not say how many people would be affected by the pardons, but noted that people may have multiple convictions, and while the initial tally is focused on cases in the state’s computer system, people whose records predate the system can also seek pardons for convictions that date back decades.
Pardons are intended to ease the burden of past convictions.
A pardon gets people off the hook for a crime, but it doesn’t get them out of prison. Maryland legalized marijuana for adult use and opened a cannabis market last year, halting cases that would qualify for a pardon. But Moore said the measure aims to mitigate cascading social and economic damage caused by the war on drugs, damage that advocates say has proven severe and disproportionately affected black and Hispanic communities.
Moore said legalization “does not erase the fact that prior to legalization, black Marylanders were three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white Marylanders” or eliminate the lasting effects of drug convictions.
Black people are 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people, even though marijuana use rates nationwide are similar to white people, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in 2020. And while such arrests have declined in many states, racial disparities remain, the group said, citing figures going back to 2018, the most recent available.
Governor Moore signed the order at the Maryland State House alongside Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, the first Black men to hold those offices in the state, who spoke of the need to make history.
“When we look back, we can see how policies have been purposefully deployed to oppress entire communities,” Moore said. “We’re talking about the measures that have led to the mass incarceration of Black men and boys.”
The governor said past drug policies have made it harder for minorities to access employment, housing and educational opportunities, adding that they also help explain Maryland’s large racial wealth gap.
“To undo that intent, we have to apply our own intent,” Moore said.
States increasingly allow pardons for low-level drug offenses
Maryland is one of 24 states and the District of Columbia where recreational use of marijuana by adults is legal. In nearly every case, the momentum toward marijuana legalization has also brought efforts to repair the direct and collateral damage caused by previous drug laws.
According to NORML, a longtime group that has advocated for nationwide marijuana legalization, hundreds of thousands of marijuana-related criminal convictions have been dismissed, exonerated, sealed or completely expunged.
In some states, constitutional amendments that legalize marijuana also mandate record expungement, a measure that is more far-reaching than amnesty and completely removes criminal convictions from public records.
States have different methods for clearing criminal records, and states with automatic expungement processes, like California and Illinois, handle huge numbers of cases. But the process can take years, depending on the date and nature of the crime.
Maryland’s measure also includes a process for seeking record expungement. It comes three months after Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced a blanket marijuana amnesty in the state, exempting “all misdemeanor possession convictions in state court.”
“The numbers are in the hundreds of thousands,” she added. A letter to the governor’s office on Monday seeking an update on the number of affected cases was not immediately responded to.
Changes are also coming at the federal level: The Biden administration recently proposed reclassifying marijuana from Schedule I, the same classification as drugs like heroin and LSD, to Schedule III, which includes drugs like ketamine and anabolic steroids, as a less dangerous drug.
President Biden has also taken steps to pardon some federal marijuana-related violations and convictions, and has repeatedly urged states to do the same.
“Far too many lives have been turned upside down because of our failed approach to marijuana, and it is time to right these wrongs,” Biden said in announcing pardons for thousands of people convicted in 2022 of simple marijuana possession under federal or D.C. law.
What’s next?
In Maryland, many people who qualify for changes to their records don’t need to take any action. Maryland courts use digital records to identify cases and will now begin updating those records, a process Moore’s office said is expected to take one to two weeks.
Moore pledged last year as Maryland launched its state recreational market that the state’s new marijuana policy would promote social equity and restorative justice. Amnesty is part of that plan, but so is economic opportunity.
“In March, we conducted our first-ever adult-use cannabis licensing round, with all 174 licenses awarded exclusively to applicants with social equity objectives,” Moore said Monday. “And to be clear, this is a first in the history of our country.”
