Source: The Washington Post / Getty
UPDATED: 11 a.m. ET, June 18
Civil Rights advocates praised Wes Moore after the Maryland Governor signed executive action pardoning 175,000 Maryland residents with low-level cannabis convictions.
The NAACP called the Governor’s move “brave,” saying it would provide the formerly incarcerated “with a new-found ability to attain opportunity.”
“The NAACP has long known that the War on Drugs was a war on Black America,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson in a statement to NewsOne. “As we move away from the regressive policies of the past, it’s crucial that our leaders assist in building new futures for those impacted. For decades, communities of color have been torn down by the hands of injustice and imprisoned at disproportionate rates due to discriminatory policies.”
Johnson also said the organization was “proud to stand alongside the Moore Administration in celebrating this victory for progress.”
The Governor’s brave decision to pardon these 175,000 Americans will provide them “with a new-found ability to attain opportunity. We will continue to advocate for, and applaud all policy reforms that repair injustices inflicted on our community. As we celebrate today, we look toward tomorrow, pushing for similar policies across the nation. Together, we will mold a future that shines a light over the darkness of our nation’s past,” Johnson said.
The NAACP wasn’t the only organization to show Gov. Moore love for his pardons. The Maryland ACLU also acknowledged the executive action, applauding the governor.
“We applaud Governor Wes Moore for taking a public step to move further away from criminal penalties and for pardoning 175,000 low-level marijuana convictions in Maryland. Our state and country need sweeping actions to remedy racial injustices and build a more fair future for all,” the ACLU wrote in a statement. “If we want our state to truly legalize marijuana and stop racist enforcement by police, we need to prioritize expunging possession with intent to distribute convictions and eliminate criminal penalties for these offenses. This change matters so that people do not lose access to employment, education, and housing.”
Last week, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore issued 175,000 pardons for marijuana convictions. Moore signed the executive order on Monday that freed low-level marijuana possession offenders for more than 100,000 people.
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“I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore told AP. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”
Recreational cannabis has been legal in Maryland since 2023. Neighboring states such as Delaware, Virginia and New Jersey have all legalized recreational marijuana. There are 24 other states as well as the District of Columbia that have legalized recreational marijuana.
Moore says criminal records have commonly been used to deny housing, employment and education and hopes the pardons will help change that.
“If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color,” Moore told the Washington Post “certainly long overdue as a nation” and “a racial equity issue.”
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, also told the Post that the pardons were “certainly long overdue as a nation” and “a racial equity issue.”
Source: The Washington Post / Getty
“While the pardons will extend to anyone and everyone with a misdemeanor conviction for the possession of marijuana or paraphernalia, this unequivocally, without any doubt or reservation, disproportionately impacts — in a good way — Black and Brown Marylanders,” Brown said.
The pardons happened around the same time as the Juneteenth holiday, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
Marijuana convictions coupled with the American prison system have perpetuated modern-day slavery in the form of a jail cell.
According to studies, Black Americans are arrested for violating marijuana possession laws at nearly four times the rates of white Americans, yet both consume marijuana at roughly the same rates.
In 2022, President Biden issued a mass pardon of federal marijuana convictions, pardoning more than 6,500 people. He also urged Governors to follow in his footsteps.
As more states legalize marijuana, hopefully, more pardons will follow.
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