Clinics Help Californians Clear Pot From Criminal Records
Free expungement clinics including one happening this Saturday in Los Angeles are providing California citizens with the opportunity to remove cannabis crimes from their record.
A year after California voted to legalize adult use cannabis, the plant has yet to hit the shelves, but efforts to reverse the impact of the War on Drugs in some of the communities most adversely impacted by its pot policies are well underway.
When voters passed the Adult Use of Marijuana Act in 2016, they werent just asserting their right to purchase marijuana and use it responsibly if over the age of 21, they also made the decision to help their peers who have suffered under the heel of heavy policing under Prop 47. And much of the time, that policing was disproportionately skewed along racial lines.
The LA Times earlier this month cited a city staff report that found African Americans accounted for less than 10 percent of the population in Los Angeles, but between 2000 and 2017 blacks represented 40 percent of marijuana-related arrests. Latinos made up 44 percent of arrests. Whites made up only 16 percent of arrests.
While there is plenty of work to be done in removing these kinds of disparities in policing across the board, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act chipped away at the iceberg. As the San Francisco Public Defenders Office put it, Prop 64 did not legalize all trafficking or use of marijuana. But it did legalize possession of small amounts at home, reduce some crime from felonies to misdemeanors and others from misdemeanors to infractions, plus it gives grounds to reduce or dismiss prior convictions.
However, many people need help in order to get their prior convictions reduced or dismissed, and for those people, marijuana conviction expungement clinics have been popping up over the state. At these clinics, folks are given a free-of-charge road map to get the process of removing or reducing the impact of past marijuana crimes on their lives underway. Tens of thousands of Californians have marijuana convictions that could qualify for everything from reduced sentences to full on expungement of their criminal record, should this be the only mark on it. Plus, these expungement clinics have already assisted thousands of people in cleaning their records, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.
On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Public Defender will host one of the biggest clinics yet. While the event isnt pot specific, big attendance numbers are expected from the community for just that reason. Along with felony reductions, numerous citizens with misdemeanors for fewer than seven plants, smoking in public or vehicle crimes like open containers will be able to apply for their past offense to become an infraction.
Californias historic marijuana legalization initiative has helped thousands clear or reduce a marijuana conviction from their record, said Eunisses Hernandez, a California policy coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance. But we need to get the word out to the tens of thousands of other Californians who could benefit from this groundbreaking provision.
For those who miss Saturdays clinic, there will be more clinics held before the end of 2017 in Los Angeles County.
Dr. Amanda Reiman, who helped lead the legalization effort last year, called the clinics critical to supporting impacted communities.
The War on Drugs has disproportionately impacted communities of color, but has also impacted communities and people without economic resources, she told Cannabis Now.
Reiman says a lack of capital can prevent folks from being able to hire a lawyer, make bail, produce a bond or engage in the expungement process, With new opportunities for expungement coming from Prop. 47 and 64 in California, it is imperative that those who have the option of removing felonies and other penalties from their record have the chance to do so.
California Pot Attorney Lauren Mendelsohn has helped a few folks clean the weed off their records since last November and herself took part in some Northern California expungement clinics to help folks out this year.
Its a very short form to fill out, she told Cannabis Now. You can decide whether or not if you want the same judge, or if you want to waive the right to a hearing. Its a pretty simple form and so far Ive had success with it. In different counties throughout California, theyre acknowledging ...
