People who have a misdemeanor marijuana possession conviction on their record in Washington are now eligible to receive an expedited pardon under a program announced by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee on Jan. 4, 2019.
The governor rolled out his Marijuana Justice Initiative during a speech at the Cannabis Alliance’s annual conference in Seattle.
“It is time to end marijuana injustice in the state of Washington,” he said. “It is the right thing to do because a simple possession conviction 20 years ago should not be a life sentence for a Washingtonian.”
If individuals have a simple possession conviction and no other convictions going back to 1998, they can fill out an online petition on the governor’s website and get the record cleared.
If a petition is granted, Inslee’s office will instruct the State Patrol to remove the person from the criminal records system that’s available to the public.
Inslee spread the word on his Twitter account: “We shouldn’t be punishing people for something that is no longer illegal in Washington state. It is time to end marijuana injustice in our state. #marijuanajustice”
We shouldn’t be punishing people for something that is no longer illegal in Washington state. It is time to end marijuana injustice in our state. #marijuanajustice
— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) January 4, 2019
Inslee said his office estimates that about 3,500 Washington residents may qualify for the pardon.
“Although our voters legalized the use privately of marijuana, we still have an injustice today that thousands of people have on their records a criminal conviction for something that is legal today,” Inslee said.
“This is impairing their ability to reach their dreams and live their lives and raise their children,” he said. “Those convictions sometimes can impair their ability to finance a house, it can impair their ability to get a shot at a good job, it can stop them even sometimes from taking their kids for a field trip. And in itself, having a criminal conviction on your record is just not a healthy thing for people.”
He added that, “Forgiving marijuana convictions can help lessen their impact and allow people to move on with their lives, with better job and housing prospects. “
Forgiving marijuana convictions can help lessen their impact and allow people to move on with their lives, with better job and housing prospects.
— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) January 4, 2019
The governor also acknowledged the somewhat narrow scope of the initiative and said individuals with other marijuana-related convictions can still go through the standard clemency request process if they don’t qualify for the expedited program.
“This is a necessary first step for repairing the racially disparate harms of marijuana prohibition,” Jolene Forman, senior staff attorney for the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), said in a press release. “This will give thousands of people a fresh start to pursue education and employment without the stain of a criminal conviction.
“Black and brown people are much more likely to be arrested for marijuana offenses than white people, despite similar rates of use across races. We encourage Gov. Inslee to clear all prior marijuana convictions, in order to repair the historical inequities in marijuana enforcement. People convicted of marijuana offenses before legalization should be treated like they would be today.”
Inslee hinted at this initiative during a December 2019 interview on a BuzzFeed News program, AM2DM, where he was also asked whether he personally smoked cannabis. The governor denied that he did, though he said he grew it — a claim his office later disputed in an email to Marijuana Moment.
