New Law Allows Gov. Polis To Pardon People With Minor Marijuana Possession Convictions
DENVER (CBS4) -- Gov. Jared Polis has signed a new law that allows him to mass pardon individuals who were convicted of possession of marijuana -- for up to two ounces -- before it was legal in Colorado. House Bill 1424 was designed to offer those Coloradans a clean slate. The bill also makes the legal marijuana industry more accessible to those individuals.
"This bill will help overcome decades of inequity in an industry where black people have been criminalized and others have been able to make profits," said Rep. Coleman, D-Denver. "We should not be defined by our past alone, and this bill provides Coloradans who want to make an honest living in the marijuana industry with the opportunity to do so."
Polis has not said exactly how the process of mass-pardoning Coloradans with minor marijuana possession convictions will work.