MA Gov. Healey Pardons Simple Cannabis Possession Convictions On Heels Of Biden’s SOTU As Weed Sales Top $7B
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) announced on Wednesday she is pardoning all people convicted of simple cannabis possession at the state level, reported NBC Boston.
The move, approved by the governor’s council, comes on the heels of President Joe Biden‘s State of the Union speech, during which he reiterated his stance that no one should be incarcerated for possessing cannabis.
Biden announced last year that he was pardoning thousands of people who were convicted for the use and/or simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia. 2023 pardons included offenses related to “use and possession on certain Federal lands,” – provisions that were not covered by Biden’s October 2022 pardon of some 6,500 federal cannabis prisoners.
On both occasions, Biden urged state Governors to follow suit and do the same with state offenses.
“This is the most sweeping cannabis pardon ever proposed by any governor in the United States,” Democratic Gov. Healey said on Wednesday as it “will apply to all misdemeanor possession convictions in the state courts.”
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