Another state is in the process of expunging thousands of criminal records relating to cannabis.
Chicago has announced the forgiveness and expungement of about half a million criminal cannabis cases.The Mayor said Thursday he issued pardons for 9,210 low-level cannabis convictions,. While Illinois State Police have wiped clean more than 492,000 non-felony cannabis-related arrest records.
“We will never be able to fully remedy the depth of that damage,” Pritzker said. “But we can govern with the courage to admit the mistakes of our past — and the decency to set a better path forward.”
The actions by Chicago and state police are mandated by the Illinois law that legalized the licensed sale of marijuana starting in 2020. The law requires 47,000 cannabis-related arrest records created between 2013 and 2019 to be expunged by the 2nd of January. With the expungement of all 492,129 cannabis arrest records, state police said they are four years ahead of the Jan. 1, 2025, statutory deadline for completing automatic expungements at the state level.
So by 2025 we will see a lot of happy families reunited with loved ones as low level somewhat petty crimes which are no longer criminal acts are wiped clean. While much like the slate of the people involved can get on with their lives again, and focus on more important things.
In addition, in the coming weeks, state officials also plan to grant over $25 million in cannabis-generated funding to organizations working in historically underserved communities across Illinois.
