Marijuana products are seen on display at Apothecarium Dispensary on April 21, 2022 in Maplewood, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s decision to pardon more than 175,000 low-level marijuana convictions is “brave” and “commendable,” said Dawn Blagrove, executive director of Emancipate NC, a nonprofit that fights against mass incarceration and racism.
“It’s also common sense,” Blagrove told NC Newsline this week. “It’s time that we really allow our laws to catchup with the morals and values of American society as it relates to marijuana.”
Dawn Blagrove (Photo: Emancipate NC)
Gov. Moore’s move comes as support for marijuana legalization is growing. A November 2023 Gallup Poll showed that 70% of Americans support marijuana legalization, while 29% of adults believe marijuana should not be legal and 1% are unsure.
NORML, a group that advocates for legalized marijuana, has identified about 2.5 million expungements and pardons for cannabis convictions that have occurred across the country in recent years.
“It’s also a drop in the bucket when you consider the reality that over the last 50 years or so, over 30 million Americans have been arrested at the state or local level for marijuana,” Paul Armentano, NORML’s deputy director, said in a statement posted on the group’s website.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has taken steps to reclassify marijuana as a less serious Schedule III drug from its current location in Schedule I, which places it in a category with the most dangerous and habit-forming substances. Under Schedule III, marijuana would be categorized with drugs that may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence such as anabolic steroids, codeine products with aspirin or Tylenol and certain barbiturates.
To date, 24 states have fully legalized marijuana use for adults. Thirty-eight states currently allow marijuana use for either medical, recreational purposes or both.
In North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Tribal Council recently approved recreational marijuana sales on the Qualla Boundary. The tribe earlier approved medical marijuana sales and the use of marijuana on tribal land by anyone age 21 or older.
The North Carolina Senate on Tuesday renewed its effort to pass Senate Bill 3 — a measure that would legalize marijuana for certain medical purposes — by amending the language from the bill into a House measure.
Moore’s move was widely applauded by advocates such as Blagrove who complain that Black people are arrested for violating marijuana possession laws at nearly four times the rate of whites even though both groups consume the drug at the same rates. Those convictions often weigh heavily on Black people by helping to foreclose job, housing and educational opportunities, the critics say.
Gov. Wes Moore signs an executive order to pardon 175,000 misdemeanor cannabis convictions. (Photo by William J. Ford, Maryland Matters)
“Maryland made history when we legalized cannabis by referendum. But we cannot celebrate the benefits of legalization while forgetting the consequences of criminalization,” Moore said in a statement. “No Marylander should face barriers to housing, employment, or education based on convictions for conduct that is no longer illegal.”
Such pardons could be a game-changer for people struggling to break free of marijuana misdemeanor charges, Blagrove said.
“Pardoning those convictions, making them go away, will literally give a new lease on life for anyone who has one of these marijuana convictions on their record,” Blagrove said. “It will allow them to not have to worry about checking the box on an employment application, not have to worry about disclosing a criminal record if they’re trying to get housing and certainly not serve as a barrier to getting financial aid for college or any number of things.”
Blagrove believes that what happened in Maryland should be a model for the rest of the nation.
“Now that we are in a place as a nation where marijuana is no longer illegal in a lot of states, it’s time for the albatross of criminal convictions about marijuana to be removed from the necks of so many Black folks across the country who have been convicted of low-level marijuana charges,” Blagrove said.
She called on Gov. Roy Cooper to take the lead in removing low-level marijuana convictions from North Carolina residents’ records before he leaves office in December.
“This is a flashpoint where Gov. Roy Cooper could use the power of the governor’s office to create a really lasting legacy for the people of North Carolina by pardoning those folks who have [low-level] marijuana convictions,” Blagrove said.
In October 2022, President Biden announced pardons for certain offenses of simple possession of marijuana on federal land.
Cooper said he supported the move but stopped short of promising such pardons in North Carolina, as Biden urged governors to do.
“North Carolina should take steps to end this stigma,” Cooper told media outlets in 2022. “I’ve also asked our lawyers to examine North Carolina law regarding simple possession of marijuana convictions and pardons to determine if there is action we can and should take.”
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