Words by Shurida Lundi
District Attorney George Gascón announced that San Francisco will begin to apply California’s marijuana legalization laws to past crimes. This means that felony and misdemeanor convictions will be sealed or decreased.
Back in November 2016, Proposition 64 was passed by state voters, and it legalized the use of recreational marijuana for people 21 and over. It also permitted the possession of an ounce of cannabis. There are about 5,000 felony convictions of marijuana that will be reviewed and recalled and about 3,000 misdemeanor convictions that will be sealed. The courts are dating back to cases as far as 1975. This will help people who are struggling to find jobs due to a criminal background.
“Instead of waiting for the community to take action, we’re taking action for the community,” Gascón said in a statement. People convicted of marijuana crimes under Proposition 64 spent a lot of time in money in order to get their criminal records expunged, but now this decision to have these cases resentenced or sealed saves them the trouble of having to go through so much.
