Updated Jun 17, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Maryland governor pardons 175,000 marijuana convictions

Noah Bressner

Gov. Wes Moore is shown wearing a dark suit in front of a blue curtain. — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore arrives to speak at a campaign event for Democratic Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks in Landover, Md., earlier this month. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) pardoned more than 175,000 marijuana convictions for an estimated 100,000 people on Monday morning.

Why it matters: Moore told the Washington Post ahead of the announcement that his pardons are "the most far-reaching and aggressive" executive action among officials nationwide around marijuana convictions.

The latest: Maryland legalized recreational marijuana last year. Moore wrote on X Monday that the rollout of the recreational market "must go hand-in-hand with pardoning past conduct."

The mass pardon is a "big step toward enacting the kinds of policies that can reverse the harm of the past," he added.
It also comes a month after the Biden administration moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous substance and ease restrictions around it.

What he's saying: "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.

"If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color," he added.
Governors in nine other states have issued mass pardons.

Go deeper: The politics of Biden's marijuana pardons

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Maryland governor pardons 175,000 marijuana convictions

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