San Francisco Will Wipe Out Marijuana Convictions

[Restorium2]

San Francisco Will Wipe Out Marijuana Convictions

Posted by CN Staff on January 31, 2018 at 14:35:30 PT By Sarah Parvini and Rong-Gong Lin II  Source: Los Angeles Times  California -- San Francisco will retroactively apply California's new marijuana legalization laws to prior convictions, expunging or reducing misdemeanor and felony convictions dating back to 1975, the district attorney's office announced Wednesday. Nearly 5,000 felony marijuana convictions will be reviewed, recalled and resentenced, and more than 3,000 misdemeanors that were sentenced prior to Proposition 64's passage will be dismissed and sealed, Dist. Atty. George Gascón said. The move will clear people's records of crimes that can be barriers to employment and housing. Proposition 64 legalizes, among other things, the possession and purchase of up to an ounce of marijuana and allows individuals to grow up to six plants for personal use. The measure also allows people convicted of marijuana possession crimes eliminated by Proposition 64 to petition the courts to have those convictions expunged from their records as long as the person does not pose a risk to public safety. They also can petition to have some crimes reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, including possession of more than an ounce of marijuana by a person who is 18 or older. "While drug policy on the federal level is going backwards, San Francisco is once again taking the lead to undo the damage that this country's disastrous, failed drug war has had on our nation and on communities of color in particular," Gascón said in a statement. "Long ago we lost our ability to distinguish the dangerous from the nuisance, and it has broken our pocket books, the fabric of our communities, and we are no safer for it." As of September, 4,885 Californians have petitioned the courts to have marijuana convictions expunged or reclassified, but many people don't know about the process, which can be difficult, according to the Drug Policy Alliance, which supported Proposition 64. "So instead of waiting for the community to take action, we're taking action for the community," Gascón said. In a statement, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the move provides "new hope and opportunities to Californians, primarily people of color, whose lives were long ago derailed by a costly, broken and racially discriminatory system of marijuana criminalization." Although nearly 75% of San Franciscans voted to legalize marijuana, only 23 petitions for Proposition 64 reduction, dismissal or expungement have been filed over the past year, the district attorney's office said, adding that it does not have any active marijuana prosecutions. Sarah Parvini is a reporter on the Los Angeles Times’ Metro desk covering breaking news and stories throughout the state. She was part of the team that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. A San Diego native, she defected from the Padres’ camp and found refuge in Dodger Stadium. Rong-Gong Lin II Rong-Gong Lin II is a metro reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He has written about buildings at risk of collapse in earthquakes and financial irregularities at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which was followed by criminal indictments of six men. He was a member of the reporting team covering the San Bernardino shootings that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news. A San Francisco area native, he graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004.

[bax]

making whoopee drug war.

 

can you believe somewhere like san fran had that many convictions? in cali? crazy. flower this drug war.
 

[AmishRnot4ganja]

Wonder when they will stop drug testing for pot. Are people still fired for testing positive in legal states?