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San Francisco to clear all marijuana misdemeanor convictions dating to 1975

Washington Post: District Attorney George Gascón said Wednesday that San Francisco will immediately dismiss all marijuana misdemeanor convictions dating to 1975 and will wipe arrest records clean for anyone who faced such charges. The city also plans to review all marijuana felonies recorded during the same time period and, in appropriate cases, resentence them to misdemeanor offenses.

“We want to address the wrongs that were caused by the failures of the war on drugs for many years in this country and begin to fix some of the harm that was done not only to the entire nation but specifically to communities of color,” Gascón said at a news conference Wednesday.

The decision stems from a lesser-known provision in California law that legalized recreational marijuana, language that offers a second chance to people convicted of marijuana crimes in the state. The new law allows people with misdemeanor marijuana records to have them expunged and those with felony convictions the opportunity to have them reduced, pending a review.

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