*For all those folks with marijuana convictions, and you live in San Francisco, we’ve got some really good news for you! San Francisco DA George Gascon says he seeks to address “failures of the war on drugs” and “harm done not only to entire nation but specifically to communities of color.”
Here’s more via the Independent:
District Attorney George Gascon has said that San Francisco will immediately dismiss all marijuana misdemeanour convictions dating to 1975 and will wipe arrest records clean for anyone who faced such charges. The city also plans to review all marijuana felonies recorded during the same time period and, in appropriate cases, re-sentence them to misdemeanour offences.
“We want to address the wrongs that were caused by the failures of the war on drugs for many years in this country and begin to fix some of the harm that was done not only to the entire nation but specifically to communities of colour,” Gascon said at a news conference Wednesday.
The decision stems from a lesser-known provision in California law that legalised recreational marijuana, language that offers a second chance to people convicted of marijuana crimes in the state. The new law allows people with misdemeanour marijuana records to have them expunged and those with felony convictions the opportunity to have them reduced, pending a review.
But wait. Don’t get too excited ’cause it won’t happen automatically. Find out what the deal is at the Independent.
