Expunged Cannabis Records Automatic in Illinois
Canada Can Learn from the Illinois Experience When It Comes to Erasing Minor Cannabis Offences – LPC
Less than one year after legalization, Illinois expunged cannabis records for almost 500,000 people. That move also included pardoning over 9,200 “low-level” conviction records.
“We will never be able to fully remedy the depth of the damage in communities of colour, who have disproportionately shouldered this burden,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “But we can govern with the courage to admit the mistakes of our past — and the decency to set a better path forward.”
Lawmakers built the expunged cannabis records mandate directly into Illinois’ Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
It is this type of automatic cannabis expungements that many experts in Canada are calling for. Originally, the government announced it would give cannabis pardons to all eligible citizens. (People also charged with a violent crime at the time of their cannabis-related arrest could not apply, for example.) However, the application process was complex and expensive. Of the estimated 10,000 people who might have been eligible, only 257 applied. That number jumped by 200 after the $631 application fee was waived.
To complicate matters, there is a strong connection between cannabis and racism. For years, non-whites have been disadvantaged in the justice system including in relation to cannabis charges. With the difficulties many face today, it seems that is still the case.
Canada Needs to Move Faster on Expunged Cannabis Records
Yet there are those in Illinois who believe change isn’t moving fast enough.
“Dismantling decades’ worth of criminal justice atrocities will take years,” said Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford. “That’s evidenced by how this country handles cannabis. We must never stop chipping away at that painful history. I’m proud of these critical first steps.”
Canada definintely needs to move faster on expunged cannabis records. Pardons don’t go far enough, since they don’t remove the charges from criminal records. Obviously, the application process is not working either. An automatic expungement system like that in Illinois is the Gold Standard when it comes to justice for those charged with minor cannabis offences.
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