Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore plans to pardon more than 175,000 marijuana convictions on Monday in one of the most sweeping rollbacks of drug policy in the country.
Moore’s plan would apply to some 100,000 people who were convicted of low-level marijuana possession charges. Marijuana has been increasingly legalized across the country as both a medicinal and recreational drug.
“I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore said. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”
Moore’s office says the wave of pardons is timed to coincide with Wednesday’s Juneteenth holiday.
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Maryland has fully legalized the cannabis trade within its borders since 2023, though its nearby neighbors like Washington, D.C. and Virginia still have some restrictions. Neither of the latter jurisdictions have issued pardons for marijuana-related crimes.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, praised Moore’s pardon.
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“While the pardons will extend to anyone and everyone with a misdemeanor conviction for the possession of marijuana or paraphernalia, this unequivocally, without any doubt or reservation, disproportionately impacts — in a good way — Black and Brown Marylanders,” Brown said.
“We are arrested and convicted at higher rates for possession and use of marijuana when the rate at which we used it was no different than any other category of people,” he added.
Maryland officials clarified that none of the pardons will result in people being released from prison because none are currently incarcerated, according to the Washington Post.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
