Maryland Governor Wes Moore intends to issue over 175,000 pardons for marijuana convictions

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) – Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is predicted to sign an executive order on Monday authorizing clemency for greater than 175,000 people convicted of marijuana charges, the governor’s office said.

Authorities describe these pardons as the most important within the history of state pardons to date. His office said the governor’s actions on paraphernalia cases make Maryland the primary state to take such motion.

According to The Washington Post, which first reported the order on Sunday evening, the pardons will clear charges of possession of small amounts of marijuana for about 100,000 people.

Moore plans to sign the manager order Monday morning on the state Capitol in Annapolis within the presence of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.

Recreational marijuana was legalized in Maryland in 2023 after voters approved a 2022 constitutional amendment with a 67% vote. Maryland decriminalized possession of marijuana for personal use on January 1, 2023. Currently, 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana.

“The Moore-Miller Administration is committed to promoting social equity and ensuring the fair and equitable administration of justice,” the governor’s office said. “Because the use and possession of cannabis is no longer illegal in this state, Marylanders should not continue to face barriers to housing, employment or educational opportunities based on convictions for conduct that is no longer illegal.”

Brown, a Democrat, called the pardons “certainly overdue as a nation” and “an issue of racial equality.”

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“While the pardon will apply to anyone who has been convicted of a misdemeanor for possession of marijuana or paraphernalia, it unequivocally, without any doubt or qualification, has a disproportionate impact – in a good way – on Black and Brown Marylanders,” Brown said “The Post”.

According to a summary from the governor’s office, the manager order will impact greater than 150,000 convictions for easy possession of cannabis, which may also include greater than 18,000 convictions for use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia.

Pardons reflect the variety of convictions. For some people, multiple conviction could have been pardoned in the course of the trial.

A pardon won’t end in anyone being released from prison.

The governor’s office said that after Moore signs the pardon, the Maryland court will make sure that each individual electronic record is accomplished with an entry indicating that the governor has pardoned the sentence. This process should take roughly two weeks.

The governor’s order also directs the state Department of Corrections to develop a process for entering an individual’s criminal record when pardons are entered, a process expected to take roughly 10 months to complete.

A pardon absolves people of guilt for a criminal offense and so they wouldn’t have to take any motion to receive a pardon.

A pardon is different from an expungement. Although the court will note within the case file that the offense has been pardoned, it’ll still appear on the case file. Expungement is the method by which a conviction is destroyed and completely faraway from the general public record, requiring a further step.