Experts Call for Cannabis Expungements
Cannabis Pardons Not Working and Doesn’t Go Far Enough – LPC
Critics and experts are calling for the Canadian government to introduce cannabis expungements. Their voices grew on the revelation that just 257 people were granted cannabis pardons last year. NDP public safety critic Jack Harris calls the process “inexcusable”.
“The whole program is a total failure by the Liberals, who promised that they were going to get rid of criminal records for people with simple possession of marijuana,” Harris said.
Harris said this is particularly important due to the links between cannabis and racism.”The government (can’t) claim to be concerned about systemic racism in our country, in our justice system, in our policing, and not do the right thing,” he said.
Although the government waived the $631 application fee last year, only 458 people have applied for cannabis pardons according to the Parole Board of Canada. (An estimated 10,000 eligible people are eligible.) Of those, 194 applications were rejected and two discontinued. Reasons for rejection included incomplete files.
Cannabis expungements would remove many barriers for Canadians who can’t get basics because of their past record. They also go a step further than cannabis pardons because the government removes all record of the conviction.
“It basically means that a large number of Canadians continue to suffer barriers to housing, employment, volunteering and living a full and meaningful life,” said Stephanie DiGiuseppe of the Criminal Lawyers Association. “That is not good for those individuals, it’s not good for the health of our society generally.”
Cannabis Expungements Should Help Solve Problems
Automatic cannabis expungements would help solve these problems – at least in theory. What’s clear though is that with only about 60 per cent success rate for the handful of people who applied, the cannabis pardons system is not working.
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