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Connecticut prosecutors have dismissed more than 1,500 pending marijuana cases, while modifying about 600 others, following a review as part of the state\u2019s post-legalization criminal erasure program.<\/p>\n
Chief State\u2019s Attorney Patrick Griffen submitted a report to members of the General Assembly\u2019s Judiciary Committee on Friday showing that the review involved individualized examinations of 4,248 cases involving controlled substances.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors in each of Connecticut\u2019s 13 judicial districts were tasked with identifying and clearing convictions for activity made legal under the cannabis bill that Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed into law last year.<\/p>\n
As Griffen pointed out, state statute previously did not distinguish marijuana cases from other drugs that remain prohibited, so there wasn\u2019t a simple way to automate the process. The case-by-case review ultimately led to 1,562 convictions being eliminated. Another 624 cases that involved multiple crimes were modified to remove marijuana charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith 4,248 cases statewide containing this charge (2,139 pending and 2,109 in re-arrest status) this was no small task, and quite labor intensive,\u201d the letter to lawmakers, which was first reported<\/a> by Hearst Connecticut Media Group., says. \u201cNonetheless, given the Committee\u2019s expressed concerns, I represented to you that resolving these cases would be treated as a priority by the Division without the need for further legislation in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 The note about \u201cfurther legislation\u201d is a reference to a bill<\/a> that the Joint Judiciary Committee has been working and passed in a 27-10 vote on Friday. It would direct the state Division of Criminal Justice to cease prosecutions of future and pending cannabis-only cases that were not covered under the legalization law.<\/p>\n Rep. Steven Stafstrom (D), co-chair of the committee, said during Friday\u2019s hearing that the action by the chief state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office may remove the need for some of the bill\u2019s language as drafted\u2014and he expects it to be amended before reaching the House floor\u2014but the overall legislation is still necessary to provide more comprehensive relief for people whose cases weren\u2019t covered under the legalization law.<\/p>\n For example, it also contains sentencing modification provisions for those who were convicted prior to legalization.<\/p>\n \u201cThis clears up confusion that may have been created under the legalization-of-cannabis process, whereby certain offenses that were pending before cannabis legalization remained pending even after that legislation was adopted,\u201d Stafstrom said.<\/p>\n Watch the committee consider the cannabis bill, about 19:40 into the video below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Gov. Ned Lamont (D), meanwhile, announced in January that the state had cleared nearly 43,000 records for marijuana-related convictions. The legalization legislation that he signed into law in 2021<\/a>\u00a0empowered the state government\u00a0to facilitate mass cannabis conviction relief<\/a>.<\/p>\n The\u00a0state also launched a web portal in January<\/a>\u00a0that provides residents with information about the status of their cannabis records and also guides those with older eligible convictions that weren\u2019t automatically erased through the process of petitioning the courts for relief.<\/p>\n Lamont has embraced the state\u2019s adult-use market, which launched at the beginning of the year<\/a>, saying that he\u2019s optimistic that it will mitigate illicit sales.<\/p>\n He also joked that one of his concerns about the cannabis industry rollout would be finding a place in line at one of the dispensaries. He wasn\u2019t being serious, but the governor previously didn\u2019t rule out the idea<\/a>\u00a0of participating in the legal marketplace.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, last month, a Connecticut legislative committee approved a bill<\/a> to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of psilocybin mushrooms<\/p>\n Read the Chief State\u2019s Attorney letter<\/a> to lawmakers on dropping marijuana cases below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n New Biden Proclamation Highlights Marijuana Criminalization\u2019s Role In Blocking Employment And Education<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Connecticut Prosecutors Drop Over 1,500 Marijuana Cases In Expansion Of Legalization Relief<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Connecticut prosecutors have dismissed more than 1,500 pending marijuana cases, while modifying about 600 others, following a review as part of the state\u2019s post-legalization criminal erasure program. Chief State\u2019s Attorney Patrick Griffen submitted a report to members of the General Assembly\u2019s Judiciary Committee on Friday showing that the review involvedContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":63442,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63441"}],"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=63441"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63443,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63441\/revisions\/63443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Connecticut Prosecutors Drop Over 1,500 Marijuana Cases In Expansion Of Legalization Relief<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"