On New Year’s Eve Day, Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) announced more than 500,000 record clearing and pardons were conducted for those accused of low level cannabis crimes and charges. These include possession and consumption of cannabis. That’s half a million people whose cannabis record are erased and they will be released from prison.

“Statewide, Illinoisans hold hundreds of thousands low-level cannabis-related records, a burden disproportionately shouldered by communities of color,” said Governor Pritzker.

“We will never be able to fully remedy the depth of that damage. But we can govern with the courage to admit the mistakes of our past—and the decency to set a better path forward.”

Many of the pardons and expungements come from the Illinois State Police (ISP.) They have gone through records and have been following the new cannabis laws set in place last year. This legalization law states has restorative justice aspects that have the state proactively remove certain cannabis convictions from people’s records.

This law doesn’t go into effect until 2025. This half a million pardons and expungements comes four years ahead of the law, showing initiative on the governor’s part. Records on the state level have been cleared. However, it will be up to the county clerks to clean up the records on the county level by 2025.

Allowing citizens to return to their communities and not remain in jail will open up several opportunities for growth and development. About 25 percent of Illinois’ cannabis tax goes back into the community through restorative justice grants to rebuild communities. 2020 saw Illinois first full year selling both medical and recreational marijuana. Large revenue numbers came in the first year. This leaves many excited for what the future holds thanks to cannabis sales.

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