Maryland Governor Pardons Over 175,000 Marijuana Convictions

Maryland’s governor issued pardons for more than 175,000 marijuana convictions Monday, a significant act of mass clemency that reflects the rapidly changing attitudes toward a drug that an increasing number of Americans want to see legalized.

The pardons by Governor Wes Moore (D) will forgive low-level marijuana possession and certain paraphernalia charges for an estimated 100,000 people, the governor’s office said, and noted it was possible for a person to have more than one conviction pardoned. Monday’s order will result in the pardons of more than 150,000 misdemeanor convictions for simple possession of cannabis and more than 18,000 misdemeanor convictions for use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia, the governor office said.

“This is about changing how both government and society view those who have been walled off from opportunity because of broken and uneven policies,” Moore said at a signing event Monday, almost two years after Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana for people 21 and older.

The governor described his executive order as “the most sweeping state-level pardon” in the country’s history. In an acknowledgement of the disproportionate impact the issue has on Black and brown people. “We did it because this is about both moral justice and economic justice,” he said. “And the reason I bring up both those two things is, you know, Maryland voted that we should have a recreational cannabis market. In fact, we voted by a 70 percent margin.”

“We cannot celebrate the benefits of legalization if we do not address the consequences of criminalization,” Moore said. “Undoing decades of harm cannot happen in a day, but we’re going to keep up the work.”

Read the official news release from the Governor's Office -->> Governor Moore Signs Nationally Historic Executive Order Pardoning 175,000 Maryland Cannabis Convictions