CHICAGO — With Illinois on Jan. 1, 2020 to become the 11th state to legalize marijuana, Governor J.B. Pritzker spent Tuesday pardoning over 11,000 residents’ past pot-related offenses.
Pritzker signed the bipartisan Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act at Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s South Side.
The Tuesday pardons involved people from 92 of the state’s 102 counties.
“We are ending the 50-year-long war on cannabis,” said Pritzker.
“We are restoring rights to many tens of thousands of Illinoisans.”
The new law makes expungement possible for any non-violent, cannabis-related offense. Over 700,000 records will be eligible for expungement.
There are 116,000 convictions involving 30 grams and under, and 34,000 involving between 30 and 500 grams.
Around 572,000 records involving arrest with no conviction up to 30 grams are set to be automatically expunged by local law enforcement agencies. These mainly involve charges of possession, manufacture, delivery, and possession with intent to deliver, and are not involved with any charges of violence.
Agencies were given a deadline of Jan. 1, 2025 to have all eligible records of arrest expunged, dating back to before Jan. 1, 2000.
