![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/1f384-1.png\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Ohio lawmakers on Thursday morning sent the governor a large-scale criminal justice reform bill that contains provisions to protect people from having criminal records for arrests or convictions over simple possession of marijuana paraphernalia. It also includes measures clearing a path for people to have convictions for cannabis possession and other offenses sealed and expunged.<\/p>\n
Under the comprehensive measure from Sen. Nathan Manning (R), misdemeanor cannabis paraphernalia possession cases would \u201cnot constitute a criminal record,\u201d<\/a> nor would they need to be disclosed \u201cin response to any inquiries about the person\u2019s criminal record.\u201d<\/p>\n The bill, which now heads to the desk of Gov. Mike DeWine (R), covers a wide range of issues, including sentencing reform for people in prison and criminal records expungements.<\/p>\n The legislation would maintain that cannabis possession is considered a minor misdemeanor offense\u2014but it would provide a pathway for sealing the record from public view after six months and expunging the conviction altogether after three years, according to the sponsor.<\/p>\n The Ohio House today passed Senate Bill 288 by a vote of\u00a079-7. pic.twitter.com\/2HQIpLaDPk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ohio House GOP (@OHRGOPCaucus) December 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n There would be a fee of generally not more than $50 to obtain the record relief, but it could be waived if the applicant can show they are indigent.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bill will improve public safety for all Ohioans, while ensuring that people in prison have the tools they need to succeed and give back to their communities when they return home,\u201d Manning said in a press release<\/a> after the Senate initially passed the legislation last month.<\/p>\n The bill<\/a> underwent some changes in the House this week that were unrelated to its cannabis provisions. It was then approved in its amended form by the Senate.<\/p>\n SB 288 (Revise the Criminal Law) \u2026 this is really 21 different bills (Christmas Bill \u2014 Juanita Brent (@Juanita_Brent) December 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Of course, advocates would like to see Ohio take much bolder steps toward ending cannabis criminalization. But after an activist-led ballot campaign and legislative attempts to legalize marijuana stalled out this year, the Senate vote represents a welcome development.<\/p>\n The campaign Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA) sought to put legalization on the ballot this year, but it faced complications that ultimately pushed the reform proposal back to 2023<\/a> at earliest.<\/p>\n In the legislature, a\u00a0pair of Ohio Democratic lawmakers\u00a0separately filed a bill to legalize marijuana<\/a> in April that directly mirrors the proposed initiative that activists had pursued, but it did not advance in time.<\/p>\n \u2014 A GOP legislator who sponsored a\u00a0different bill to tax and regulate cannabis<\/a> has tempered expectations this year about the chances for legislative reform, signaling that the issue will likely have to be decided by voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n The House Finance Committee held a hearing on the Democratic and Republican legalization bills<\/a> last week, but no votes were held.<\/p>\n Ohioans have made clear that they\u2019re ready for a policy change during elections in multiple recent cycles, including this latest one where voters in five more cities approved local marijuana decriminalization ballot initiatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n A recent poll found that a majority of Ohio voters would support<\/a> marijuana legalization at the ballot statewide.<\/p>\n As of September, Ohio medical marijuana sales\u00a0officially surpassed the $1 billion mark<\/a>\u00a0since dispensaries started serving patients in April 2019, state data shows.<\/p>\n Key Senate Chairman Signals Marijuana Banking Will Wait Until 2023, Says There\u2019s \u2018Interest In The Republican House\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Ohio Bill Removing Marijuana Paraphernalia Convictions From Criminal Records And Allowing Broader Expungement Heads To Governor<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Ohio lawmakers on Thursday morning sent the governor a large-scale criminal justice reform bill that contains provisions to protect people from having criminal records for arrests or convictions over simple possession of marijuana paraphernalia. It also includes measures clearing a path for people to have convictions for cannabis possession andContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":59432,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59431"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59433,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59431\/revisions\/59433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
![\"🎄\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/1f384.png\")
) \u2026. IM A YES ( 79-7) pic.twitter.com\/lqffKqBwpV<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMarijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-62.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: Ohio Bill Removing Marijuana Paraphernalia Convictions From Criminal Records And Allowing Broader Expungement Heads To Governor<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"