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Healey plans to pardon state-level, simple marijuana convictions
Details about the structure and eligibility of the pardons will be formally announced on Wednesday, Healey's office confirmed.
Following in the footsteps of President Joe Biden, Gov. Maura Healey is planning to pardon past marijuana possession convictions on Wednesday, her office confirmed.
The Boston Globe first reported on the governor’s upcoming plans to forgive tens of thousands of people for marijuana convictions, which will follow a federal clemency policy for similar convictions. Details about the structure and eligibility of the pardons will be formally announced on Wednesday.
When the pardons go forward, Healey will be following through on a campaign promise from 2022. Healey told the Globe that if elected, she would pardon state-level simple marijuana convictions.
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Healey said she would model her own clemency policy after the president’s. In 2022, Biden pardoned federal and D.C. offenders charged with simple marijuana possession. He urged governors to follow his lead in December.
“Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the use or possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either,” Biden said in a press release at the time.
Recreational marijuana has been legal in Massachusetts since 2016. In 2018, then-Gov. Charlie Baker took steps to help those with marijuana convictions. He created an application for those convicted for possession with small amounts of marijuana could have their record expunged.
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