Gov. Wes Moore pardoned 175,000 cannabis-related misdemeanor convictions on Monday, in what the Maryland Democrat touted as the “most sweeping state-level pardon of any state in American history.”
Among the pardoned convictions, more than 150,000 were for cannabis possession, and more than 18,000 for use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia. An individual might account for more than one of the pardoned convictions, and the governor’s office estimated that at least 100,000 people are affected by the pardons.
Because the affected charges are all misdemeanors, no one is being released from jail or prison as a result of Monday’s pardons, officials emphasized.
The convictions span all of the state’s 24 jurisdictions, but the largest portion are in Baltimore City, which accounts for nearly a quarter of the charges being forgiven.
Moore said the move follows the state’s legalization of recreational cannabis use on the ballot in 2022 and is an overdue step toward closing the racial wealth gap.
“Legalization does not turn back the clock on decades of harm that was caused by this war on drugs,” Moore said at Monday’s press conference. “It doesn't erase the fact that Black Marylanders were three times more likely to be arrested for cannabis than white Marylanders before legalization.”
According to Moore Administration officials, the convictions will be marked pardoned in court records in about two weeks, and criminal background checks will reflect the pardons in about 10 months. However, the convictions are not being expunged. To get the charges removed from court records and background check results, individuals will need to take additional steps, likely with the help of an attorney.
Officials said an estimated 40,000 of the newly pardoned convictions are already hidden from court records and in criminal background checks under a law passed in 2022.
The move drew praise from other elected officials.
“The legacy that the war on drugs has had on our city of Baltimore — and many places around the country like it — is still visceral and tangible,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement. “For those receiving the pardons — which includes thousands upon thousands of Baltimoreans — it will be life changing.
But Alexandra Bailey, senior campaign strategist at The Sentencing Project, which advocates for criminal justice reform, said Moore’s actions Monday don’t go far enough.
“It is a sweeping grand gesture with next to no impact,” she said.
She said it’s likely that many of the people affected by Monday’s pardons have other convictions that are not being pardoned, and many will have served time in prison or may be incarcerated now on charges that are not being pardoned.
The governor’s office could not say how many of the affected people will remain incarcerated on other charges after Monday’s pardons.
Eligible individuals not already on the governor’s list can apply for a pardon through the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
