Illinois Expunges Nearly 500,000 Cannabis-Related Arrest Records
As we kick off a new year, officials in the Illinois government have gone ahead and expunged nearly 500,000 cannabis-related arrest records in the state, with thousands of low-level cannabis convictions pardoned.
On Thursday (Dec. 31), Gov. J.B. Pritzker shared that nearly half a million non-felony cannabis-related arrest records were going to be expunged by Illinois State Police before January 1, 2021. Additionally, 9,129 low-level cannabis convictions were pardoned ahead 2021.
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In his statement, Pritzker stated, “Statewide, Illinoisans hold hundreds of thousands low-level cannabis-related records, a burden disproportionately shouldered by communities of color. We will never be able to fully remedy the depth of that damage. But we can govern with the courage to admit the mistakes of our past — and the decency to set a better path forward.”
Per the Chicago Sun-Times, new legislation mandated that “47,000 cannabis-related arrest records between 2013 and 2019 be expunged by Jan. 1, 2021.” Furthermore, this report follows recent news about the House voting to decrimlnnize marijuana on a federal level, and numerous states legalizing the drug during the 2020 election, etc.
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