June 16 (Reuters) – The governor of Maryland told the Washington Post in an interview published on Sunday that he will issue a mass pardon of 175,000 low-level marijuana convictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Governor Wes Moore told the Post that he would make the mass pardon on Monday morning. He said that the timing was meant to coincide with this week’s Juneteenth holiday, a day that marks the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moore’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black Americans have historically been more than three times as likely as white Americans to be arrested on marijuana charges, according to research, opens new tab<\/u><\/a> from the American Civil Liberties Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moore told the Post that such criminal records have been used to deny housing, employment and education, holding people and their families back long after their sentences have been served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore told the Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The move by Moore comes on the heels of a similar mass pardon<\/u><\/a> in Massachusetts, and after President Joe Biden issued some pardons<\/u><\/a> in recent years on federal drug convictions<\/u><\/a>. In April, Biden’s administration took steps to make marijuana use a less serious crime<\/u><\/a> at the federal level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While marijuana use and possession remains illegal under federal law, 24 states – including Maryland and Washington D.C. – have legalized the recreational use of marijuana under state law, while 38 states and Washington D.C. allow medical use of marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n