Governor Wes Moore overturns 175,000 marijuana convictions in Maryland
Grace granted for 100,000 people, most of them from ethnic minorities. A step forward after legalisation in 2023
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The US state of Maryland will overturn 175,000 convictions for marijuana use issued in recent decades, Governor Wes Moore announced in an interview with the Washington Post. The Democratic first black governor of Maryland told the American newspaper that he intends to 'rectify a large number of historical errors' by signing this pardon decree.
Rights denied
.About 100,000 people will see convictions for possessing or smoking a drug that is now legal in the state and widely consumed disappear from their criminal records. According to Moore, many people - most of them from ethnic minorities - are still denied employment, housing or access to education because of previous convictions for cannabis possession.
The 2023 referendum
.Maryland, a state of six million people on the east coast of the USA, legalised the recreational use and retail sale of marijuana in a referendum in 2023. According to state Attorney General Anthony Brown, the pardon applies to everyone convicted of marijuana possession but 'disproportionately affects the black population in a positive way'. The Washington Post points out that African-Americans make up 33% of Maryland's population but 70% of those incarcerated in the state.
