Thousands of low-level drug offenders had their convictions wiped clean this week when Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker granted more than 11,000 pardons ahead of a sweeping state law legalizing recreational cannabis.
Pritzker granted the 11,017 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions on Tuesday, just a day before the state’s new Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act took effect. The law made Illinois the 11th state in the United States to legalize marijuana for recreational use by adults who are age 21 or older.
“We are ending the 50-year long war on cannabis,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “We are restoring rights to many tens of thousands of Illinoisans. We are bringing regulation and safety to a previously unsafe and illegal market. And we are creating a new industry that puts equity at its very core.”
The law allows people to automatically receive clemency for convictions for possession of up to 30 grams of cannabis, and state officials said about another 116,000 convictions for possession of that amount or less, not associated with a violent crime, are eligible for pardons. People convicted of possessing 30-500 grams can now petition a court to have the charge lifted.
In all, Illinois has over 700,000 residents with marijuana-related offenses on their criminal records who could see some relief from the new law, which is also intended to help people who have struggled to secure employment, housing, and financial aid for college because of their drug convictions.
“The 11,017 pardons that Gov. Pritzker is granting today are thousands of lives forever changed — and hundreds of thousands more will be changed in the coming months,” Toi Hutchinson, senior adviser to the governor for cannabis control, said in a statement. “Those who were unfairly targeted by discriminatory drug laws can finally get ahead and build a new future for themselves and their families.”
On New Year’s Day, hundreds of people were lined up bright and early in the morning to purchase legal marijuana — many before dispensaries in the state had even opened.
Quite the crowd here to purchase legal cannabis in Illinois! There are hundreds of people—doors open at 7 am. @KMOV pic.twitter.com/cJsmfKZerS
— Alyssa Toomey (@Alyssa_Toomey) January 1, 2020
Hundreds of people lined up in the Uptown neighborhood waiting to buy cannabis on the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales in Illinois. ? @ABC7Chicago pic.twitter.com/MOex82Kf4Q
— Alexis McAdams ABC-7 (@AlexisMcAdamsTV) January 1, 2020
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois applauded Pritzker’s move, saying, “The governor’s pardons of Illinoisans with convictions for marijuana possession makes the new year brighter for thousands.”
“We know that black Illinois residents are far more likely to be arrested and convicted for marijuana possession than whites,” said Ben Ruddell, criminal justice policy director for the state branch of the organization. “This is a good step forward as we begin the legal sales of recreational marijuana.”
According to the Marijuana Policy Project, 18 states have decriminalized marijuana, and another 34 allow for the medicinal use of marijuana. In the District of Columbia, recreational cannabis possession by those 21 years old and over is legal, but a regulated system for the sale of marijuana currently only exists for medical users.
