Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is planning to pardon more than 175,000 marijuana convictions on Monday.
The governor would be forgiving marijuana-related charges for roughly 100,000 people.
After President Joe Biden issued a mass pardon of federal marijuana convictions in 2022, he called on governors to do the same at the state level. That same year, Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana statewide, which took effect July 1, 2023.
Nine other states have made similar moves. The state-level action is rivaled only by one other state, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Moore’s announcement is timed to coincide with Juneteenth on Wednesday, a holiday that represents the end of slavery in the U.S. Moore is looking to right the wrongs of criminal justice inequities that disproportionally targeted Black people.
Moore’s pardons would include misdemeanor possession and certain convictions for misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
