Expungement

Wisconsin lawmakers are pushing to decriminalize up to an ounce of cannabis and expunge criminal cannabis possession records for up to 28 grams. Their proposal would also ban police from vehicle searches based only on the smell of cannabis.

New Mexico’s adult-use legalization task force has handed in its final report to the governor; the report suggests low-level expungement policies and predicts up to $620 million in annual cannabis sales after five years.

Pennsylvania lawmakers have proposed an adult-use cannabis legalization bill that includes home cannabis cultivation, delivery, social-use, and expungement; the bill would also establish commercial micro-grow permits capped at $250 per year, with large-scale grows costing $10,000 annually with a $100,000 application fee.

Nearly one full year after cannabis was legalized federally in Canada, only 77 people have applied to have cannabis charges expunged from their background and just 44 have been successfully pardoned.

During a campaign rally last week, Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said that he would issue a mass pardon for federal nonviolent cannabis offenses if he is elected president.

A Manhattan judge has sealed hundreds of cannabis possession cases in the wake of a successful class action petition brought in part by the borough’s district attorney.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a bill into law that establishes an expungement process for low-level criminal charges and expands the state’s existing decriminalization rules.

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler and Sen. Kamala Harris are introducing a federal cannabis reform bill called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act to both decriminalize cannabis and set up the expungement of prior cannabis convictions.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has signed into law several cannabis policy updates, including a bill allowing the state to export cannabis products to other states with cannabis programs.

Illinois is officially the 11th state to legalize adult-use cannabis and will be the first state to regulate cannabis sales via the legislature. The new law, signed this morning, will also set up nearly 800,000 prior cannabis convictions for expungement.

New York lawmakers, after failing to adopt adult-use legalization this session, have approved legislation expanding cannabis decriminalization in the state and establishing a framework for the automatic expungement of low-level cannabis convictions.

The last-minute efforts to legalize or decriminalize adult-use cannabis in New York before the legislature adjourns for the year have failed; lawmakers will have to pursue the issue again next year.

The Oregon House of Representatives has approved a measure easing the expungement process for low-level cannabis crimes, removing fees associated with the process and lowering ID requirements.

Illinois lawmakers have approved a legalization bill that, if signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker — a cannabis legalization supporter — would make Illinois the 11th state to legalize cannabis.

A tax-and-regulate legalization plan has advanced from the Illinois Senate to the House of Representatives. The bill has the support of Gov. J.B. Pritzker and, if fully approved, would make Illinois the 11th state to legalize cannabis for adult use.

Hoping for the governor’s support, New York lawmakers have raised the proposed tax rate, lowered possession limits, and added expungement for low-level cannabis convictions to the state’s pending adult-use legislation.

With lawmakers having failed to establish adult-use cannabis legislation this session, Senate President Steve Sweeney says he’s planning to put the question to voters via a ballot initiative in the 2020 general election.

Washington’s governor signed the state’s misdemeanor cannabis vacancies bill. Under the new law, some 69,000 qualifying individuals will be able to have misdemeanor cannabis convictions expunged from their record entirely.

A bill that would expunge nearly 69,000 misdemeanor cannabis convictions in Washington state has been approved by both legislative bodies and now moves to Gov. Jay Inslee (D) for his signature.

Washington lawmakers have approved legislation for the expungement of some 69,000 cannabis misdemeanors; the bill must be now reconciled in the Senate one last time before going to the governor’s desk.

LA prosecutors and nonprofit tech organization Code for America are teaming up to help guide as many as 50,000 cannabis convicts down the path to expungement.

After it passed several key legislative hurdles, New Jersey lawmakers are set to vote on the state’s pending legalization bill as early as next week.

The Washington state Senate has passed a wide-reaching expungement bill that would vacate cannabis convictions for tens of thousands in the state.

Using technology developed by Code for America, San Francisco is the first city in California to successfully complete the expungement of prior cannabis crimes.