Illinois amnesties 11,000 cannabis convicts ahead of legalization

On the eve of the legalization of cannabis in Illinois, the governor announced that his office was clearing the records of more than 11,000 people who had already been convicted of simple possession of cannabis.

Governor JB Pritzker said the decision «sets us apart» from other states that have legalized adult-use cannabis and that «Illinois is prioritizing fairness, overturning thousands of convictions and giving individuals and their families a new lease on life.»

These 11,017 misdemeanor convictions represent individuals who have carried around with them a stain on their records for possessing less than 30 grams of cannabis - a stain that has very often prevented them from obtaining housing or jobs or benefits.

- Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 31, 2019

A total of 11,017 people will be granted amnesty for possession offenses of up to 30 grams. The governor's office said 116,000 cases were eligible for amnesty via this process, with hundreds of thousands more eligible for redress by petitioning the courts.

«Most importantly, this is just the first wave of Illinoisans who will see a new world of opportunity emerge as they shed the burden that their cannabis offenses and records can represent,» he said.

While legalizing the sale of cannabis, the governor was keen to place social justice on a par with legal access. He intends to achieve four main goals by legalizing: ending a decades-long prohibition, restoring the rights of tens of thousands of residents, regulating a once-dangerous illicit market and developing an industry «that places equity at its heart».

Ilinois became the 11th U.S. state to legalize cannabis when Gov. signed the legalization last June, and the first to set up a legal, taxed system for the sale of cannabis through a government initiative, rather than a citizen referendum. Other States should soon follow.