“Marijuana legalization and expungement in early 2021”

The title of this post is the title of this great new report authored by David Schlussel that was assisted in various ways by folks at Collateral Consequences Resource Center and Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (DEPC) at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  Here is the abstract to the report:

Early 2021 was an unprecedented period for policymaking at the intersection of marijuana legalization and criminal record reform. Between February and April, four states enacted legislation legalizing recreational marijuana.  In conjunction with legalization, these states (New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Virginia) also enacted innovative criminal policy reforms — including the automatic expungement of an exceptionally broad array of past marijuana convictions — along with a variety of social equity provisions.

These new laws mitigate past harms of the legal system while also supporting economic and social opportunity for people with a record in several ways.  First, in all four states, expansive automatic expungement provisions will remove the burden of a criminal record from many individuals, while raising the bar on standards for marijuana record relief nationwide.  These states also incorporated more general criminal record reforms into legalization, benefiting people with different types of criminal records in their efforts to reintegrate into society.  Finally, these four states specifically addressed racial disparities in marijuana criminalization by directing tax revenue and business opportunities for legal marijuana to individuals and communities disproportionately affected by criminal law enforcement.  This report and an accompanying infographic summarize the groundbreaking criminal reforms enacted this year as part of marijuana legalization and situate them in the national context. 

The infographic referenced here as well as other links and materials related to this topic can also be found in the report pages for both DEPC here and CCRC here.  In addition, this recent PBS News Hour piece, headlined “As more states legalize marijuana, people with drug convictions want their records cleared,” discusses these issues further.

A few recent related posts from Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform:

• Effective coverage of marijuana expungement efforts and work still to do
• On Presidents Day, coalition calls for Prez Biden to issue “a general pardon to all former federal, non-violent cannabis offenders in the U.S.”
• “Ensuring Marijuana Reform Is Effective Criminal Justice Reform”
• “Illinois Governor Announces Half A Million Marijuana Expungements And Pardons”