Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has granted pardons for over 175,000 low-level marijuana convictions, aiming for criminal justice reform and correcting past injustices.
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This signifies a large leap toward addressing the harms caused by the “war on drugs.”
This post was originally published on Afro
By Tashi McQueen
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) alongside several top state officials and legislators announced a historical number of pardons, over 175,000, for convictions related to low-level marijuana offenses on June 17.
To the sound of applause, Moore emphasized that Maryland must address the consequences of criminalization done in large part by the war on drugs, a legal effort meant to address illegal drug use by increasing the incarceration and penalties of convicted drug offenders.
“We know that legalization does not turn back the clock on decades of harm that was caused by the war on drugs. It doesn’t erase the fact that Black Marylanders were three times more likely to be arrested for cannabis than White Marylanders,” said Moore. “Policy making is powerful. If you look at the past, you see how policies have been intentionally deployed to hold back entire communities. We are talking about tools that have led to the mass incarceration of Black men and boys.”
#CriminalJusticeReform #MarylandMarijuanaPardons #SocialJusticeReform