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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) said in an announcement hours before the start of the new year that his state had overturned nearly 500,000 marijuana-related convictions.
The move follows Pritzker’s signing of the law in 2019 legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in the state from 2020. The expansive legislation also paved the way for 770,000 state residents to be eligible for deportation for marijuana offenses.
Pritzker initially estimated that it would take four years to start erasing records, but announced on Thursday that nearly 500,000 had already been discarded by 2021.
“We have reached this milestone a year after the start of what will be an ongoing effort to correct the historic wrongs fueled by the War on Drugs,” he tweeted.
I am proud to report that nearly 500,000 low-level cannabis records have been deleted in Illinois, four years ahead of schedule.
We have reached this milestone one year after the start of what will be an ongoing effort to correct the historic wrongs fueled by the War on Drugs.
– Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 31, 2020
We can never fully address the depth of damage to communities of color, who have disproportionately shoulder this burden. But we can govern with the courage to admit the mistakes of our past – and the decency to chart a better course.
– Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 31, 2020
“We will never be able to fully address the scale of the damage in communities of color, who have disproportionately assumed this burden.” But we can rule with the courage to admit the mistakes of our past – and the decency to pave the way for a better path. . “
Illinois joins more than a dozen states in recent years that have legalized recreational marijuana and have sought to process drug-related convictions.
California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington have each adopted legislation to explicitly erase or seal the records of those convicted of marijuana-related crimes.
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