'Blanket' Marijuana Pardons Coming To Massachusetts As Gov. Healey Follows Up On Biden's Initiative

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) will announce the details of her plan to issue pardons to people convicted of simple cannabis possession at the state level, her office confirmed Monday, writes the Associated Press. 

Last December, President Joe Biden announced that he was pardoning thousands of people who were convicted for the use and/or simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia. Biden's 2023 pardons included offenses related to “use and possession on certain Federal lands,” – provisions that were not covered by Biden's October 2022 pardon of some 6,500 federal cannabis prisoners.

See Also: Weed Could Be Biden’s Ace Up The Sleeve Against Trump If He Would Fulfill His Campaign Promises

On both occasions, Biden urged state Governors to do the same with state offenses and now Gov. Healey is catching up.

While details of the plan are yet to be announced, it is estimated that this move could impact the lives of tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents with simple possession convictions on their records.

According to data from the Cannabis Control Commission, from 2000 to 2013 there were close to 68,800 civil or criminal violations of cannabis possession issues in Massachusetts. As per an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, from 1995 to 2008 (the year Massachusetts decriminalized small cannabis possessions) there were more than 8,000 arrests per year for selling or possessing cannabis.

"It's supposed to be a blanket pardon," said state Senator Adam Gomez (D), reported the Boston Globe. "Folks aren't going to have to do anything at all specific to possession charges. Those records and those arrests are going to be going away."

State Rep Bud Williams (R), said he heard from Healey's assistants that the pardons would cover from "March, all the way back. It's a step in the right direction. This has been an albatross around folks' necks. There's a lot of Black and brown people" affected by this.

During last week’s State of the Union speech, Biden reiterated his stance that no one should be incarcerated for possessing cannabis. While pardons are meant to remove barriers to housing, employment and educational opportunities, they do not expunge criminal records.

See Also: VP Harris Incorrectly States White House ‘Changed Federal Marijuana Policy,’ Advocate Weldon Angelos Calls Her Out

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