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The governor of Ohio has signed a major criminal justice reform bill that will let cities facilitate mass expungements for people with certain drug-related convictions, including marijuana possession of up to 200 grams, while also protecting people from getting criminal records for possessing cannabis paraphernalia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed the legislation from Sen. Nathan Manning (R) on Tuesday. The bill covers a wide range of issues, including sentencing reform for people in prison and broader criminal records sealing and expungements.<\/p>\n Key provisions of the bill came about after Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb (D) attempted to facilitate several thousand expungements for residents with marijuana possession convictions. He was told by state officials that localities don\u2019t have that clemency authority, so the mayor worked with Manning to resolve the issue.<\/p>\n My administration committed early on to help remove the barrier of low-level marijuana convictions for people seeking opportunities at work or school. \u2014 Mayor Justin M. Bibb (@MayorBibb) January 3, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n County prosecutors and city law directors will now be able to apply for expungements for fourth degree or minor misdemeanor drug offenses on citizens\u2019 behalf. That could have sweeping implications, empowering local governments across the state to provide relief to people with convictions for possessing up to 200 grams of marijuana, for example.<\/p>\n Also under the legislation, misdemeanor cannabis paraphernalia possession cases would \u201cnot constitute a criminal record,\u201d nor would they need to be disclosed \u201cin response to any inquiries about the person\u2019s criminal record.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, this is [like] a traffic ticket that is being sealed or expunged,\u201d Manning told<\/a> Cleveland.com. \u201cThere are no victims. But because this is a drug offense, it has been this major barrier on employment and other things.\u201d<\/p>\n DeWine didn\u2019t explicitly mention the main criminal justice reform components of the legislation in a press release about signing it into law. Instead, he focused<\/a> on a provision about expanding the ability of police to pull over people for distracted driving.<\/p>\n However, he said that the measure generally \u201chelps ensure that Ohio law reflects modern realities.\u201d<\/p>\n The law will take effect 90 days from the signing, and the Cleveland mayor said he would move expeditiously to take advantage of the new clemency authority once that happens. Cincinnati officials similarly looked into mass expungements for cannabis offenses last year as well.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been fighting to expunge the records of thousands of Clevelanders convicted of minor marijujana possession cases since April. Today, @GovMikeDeWine<\/a> signed a bill to change the state\u2019s expungement laws after our continued advocacy \u2014 we keep pushing. https:\/\/t.co\/oMuifQzjkW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Justin M. Bibb (@JustinMBibb) January 3, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Advocates welcome the development, but they\u2019re also holding out hope for broader reform, especially after facing setbacks as activist-led ballot campaign and legislative attempts to legalize marijuana stalled out last year.<\/p>\n The campaign Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA) sought to put legalization on the ballot last year, but it faced complications that ultimately pushed the reform proposal back to this year<\/a>\u00a0at earliest.<\/p>\n In the legislature, a\u00a0pair of Ohio Democratic lawmakers\u00a0separately filed a bill to legalize marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in 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 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\u00a0hearing on the Democratic and Republican legalization bills<\/a> last month, 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 in November where voters in five more cities approved local marijuana decriminalization ballot initiatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n A recent poll found that a\u00a0majority of Ohio voters would support<\/a>\u00a0marijuana 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 Border Patrol Marijuana Seizures Have Dropped 95 Percent As More States Legalized Over The Past Decade<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Ohio Governor Signs Bill Letting Cities Grant Mass Marijuana Expungements, Among Other Reforms<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The governor of Ohio has signed a major criminal justice reform bill that will let cities facilitate mass expungements for people with certain drug-related convictions, including marijuana possession of up to 200 grams, while also protecting people from getting criminal records for possessing cannabis paraphernalia. Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signedContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":60293,"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\/60292"}],"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=60292"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60294,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60292\/revisions\/60294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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SB 288 gets us there, and it shows how cities and the General Assembly can work together to address all Ohioans’ challenges. pic.twitter.com\/EruJQYhtsS<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\nRead More: Ohio Governor Signs Bill Letting Cities Grant Mass Marijuana Expungements, Among Other Reforms<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"