Massachusetts governor to issue pardons for those convicted of cannabis possession

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey plans to announce this week that she’s following the lead of President Joe Biden and issuing pardons to those convicted of simple possession of cannabis at the state level, her office said Monday.

The move could touch the lives of tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents with simple possession convictions on their records. Details of the plan will be announced at a news conference Wednesday.

It wasn’t immediately clear how far back the Democratic governor would reach to issue pardons. If she follows the wide-ranging pardons championed by Biden, the number of pardons could be in the tens of thousands.

In 2016, Massachusetts voters approved a question legalizing pot, the same year voters in California and Nevada also legalized recreational marijuana.

In the years since 2016, a bustling legal pot industry has sprouted up in Massachusetts, even as the drug remains illegal at the federal level.

In December, Biden pardoned thousands of people who had been convicted of the use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia.

The White House said at the time that Biden’s latest round of executive clemencies was meant to rectify racial disparities in the justice system. Biden had said his actions would help make the “promise of equal justice a reality.” [Read More @ AP News]