US: Nearly 66,000 Marijuana Convicts To Be Set Free
California for the long time has been known as among the states that legalized the use of Marijuana in the United States of America.
Nearly 66,000 marijuana convictions in Los Angeles County will be dismissed thanks to the state laws that paved the way for the action, the California county district attorney said Thursday
“Cases include 62,000 felony convictions for cases among them those for marijuana sales and cultivation — dating back to 1961, and about 4,000 misdemeanor possession cases,” District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s office said.
“The dismissal of tens of thousands of old cannabis-related convictions in Los Angeles County will bring much-needed relief to communities of color that disproportionately suffered the unjust consequences of our nation’s drug laws,” Lacey said in a news release.
“I am privileged to be part of a system dedicated to finding innovative solutions and implementing meaningful criminal justice reform that gives all people the support they need to build the life they deserve,” she said.
The 66,000 dismissals mean conviction relief for about 53,000 people. About 45% are Latino; 32% are black; and 20% are white, Lacey’s office said.
In November 2016, California voters okayed the legalization of recreational marijuana
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According to the CNN Report In 2018, the state Legislature passed a law which required the state Department of Justice to scour California’s crime records and find past cannabis convictions that are eligible to be canceled or reduced to misdemeanors. generally, convictions for activities that would no longer be crimes under the California law The bill gives county prosecutors until this July to review the list and decide which dismissals would be appropriate.
The state Department of Justics estimated that more than 218,000 convicts could be eligible for relief
Including the Los Angeles County cases, Clear My Record has helped prosecutors dismiss about 85,000 marijuana convictions across the state, Code for America senior criminal justice program director Evonne Silva said.
“This is a clear demonstration that automatic record clearance is possible at scale and can help to right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs,” Silva said