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Agence France-Presse

<p>WASHINGTON, United States — The governor of the US state of Maryland issued a mass pardon of drug offenses on Monday, in a far-reaching move forgiving 175,000 low-level marijuana convictions across multiple decades.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/13/doh-recognizes-efforts-to-legalize-medical-cannabis-but-2204">• DOH &#x27;recognizes&#x27; efforts to legalize medical cannabis, but...</a></div><p>Democrat Wes Moore said his act -- &quot;the most sweeping state-level pardon&quot; in American history -- was aimed at addressing social and economic injustices disproportionately impacting tens of thousands of Black people.</p><p>Moore, the eastern state&#x27;s first Black governor, said he intended to right the &quot;decades of harm&quot; wrought by drug policy that had disproportionately targeted African Americans, depriving them of access to housing, education and employment.</p><p>Nearly half of all state drug arrests during the early 2000s were for cannabis, he said, with Black Marylanders three times more likely to be detained over cannabis-related charges than white residents.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/08/18/23/fact-check-how-dangerous-is-cannabis-really">• Fact check: How dangerous is cannabis, really?</a></div><p>And while the state&#x27;s population of six million is 33 percent Black, more than 70 percent of Maryland&#x27;s male incarcerated population is Black.</p><p>&quot;Today, we take a big step enacting the kinds of policies that can reverse the harm of the past and to help us to work together to build a brighter future,&quot; Moore said as he signed the pardons into law in a ceremony in state capital Annapolis.</p><p>After a state-wide referendum, Maryland legalized cannabis for adults and retail sales of the drug in 2023.</p><p>The governor said the pardons would extend to anyone with a misdemeanor conviction for possession of marijuana or paraphernalia.</p><p>He added that the scope of the pardons -- affecting some 100,000 people -- amounted to a &quot;sweeping and unapologetic&quot; executive action by officials looking to erase criminal justice inequities as more states nationwide ease marijuana laws.</p><p>Cannabis is a multibillion-dollar business in the United States, with more than half of states having legalized recreational and medicinal use, a liberalization overwhelmingly supported by Americans, according to polling.</p><div><strong>&#x27;Modern day shackles&#x27;</strong></div><p>But it is classified by the federal government as a Schedule I drug -- the same level as heroin, ecstasy and LSD -- meaning it is deemed to have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/16/22/smoking-cannabis-may-be-more-harmful-to-lungs-than-tobacco-study">• Smoking cannabis may be more harmful to lungs than tobacco: study</a></div><p>In 2022, Joe Biden became the first US president to initiate a federal review of marijuana policy to bring it more in line with public opinion.</p><p>The president recently proposed downgrading marijuana to a Schedule III drug, putting it alongside substances like ketamine and painkillers containing codeine, considered to have a moderate to low likelihood of dependence.</p><p>That wouldn&#x27;t make it legal, but it could lead to fewer arrests at the federal level.</p><p>The issue is seen as a potential vote winner for Biden as he faces Republican Donald Trump in a tough election rematch this November, especially among younger people that the Democratic incumbent is struggling to court.</p><p>&quot;The data shows the deeply rooted bias in drug-related arrests and sentencing. Cannabis convictions for hundreds of thousands of people here in Maryland were Scarlet Letters, modern day shackles,&quot; said Maryland&#x27;s Attorney General Anthony Brown.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/08/25/22/marijuana-use-on-the-rise-among-young-americans-study">• Marijuana use on the rise among young Americans: study</a></div><p>&quot;This morning, I can almost hear the clanging of those shackles falling to the floor,&quot; Brown said.</p><p>The pardons will not result in anyone being released from jail, the governor&#x27;s office said.</p><p>The action was cheered by criminal justice reform activists including Jason Ortiz of the Last Prisoner Project, who recounted being arrested at 16 for cannabis possession.</p><p>&quot;I was thrown out of school, denied access to my high school education, ripped from my family and my friends, and had to endure two years of isolation for a simple cannabis possession charge,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;The Last Prisoner Project applauds Governor Moore and his administration&#x27;s actions to rectify the historic racial disparities caused by cannabis prohibition... Today is literally the most powerful day in cannabis justice history for the entire nation. That&#x27;s an incredible thing,&quot; Ortiz said.</p><div><strong>— By Frankie Taggart, </strong><strong>Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2989604"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script>

<p>The act was aimed at addressing social and economic injustices disproportionately impacting tens of thousands of Black people.</p>

The act was aimed at addressing social and economic injustices disproportionately impacting tens of thousands of Black people.

US governor pardons 175,000 marijuana convictions

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US governor pardons 175,000 marijuana convictions

Agence France-Presse

Published Jun 18, 2024 01:10 PM PHT

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Washington

United States

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marijuana

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crime

Agence France-Presse

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