Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland signed an executive order on Monday morning that forgives more than 175,000 convictions on low-level charges related to marijuana use.
His administration said the mass pardon would probably affect about 100,000 people convicted of misdemeanor charges like possession. Some of them have multiple convictions.
“This is a responsibility that I take very, very seriously,” Mr. Moore said at a news conference, adding that he was acting “with deep pride and soberness.”
“Today is about equity; it is about racial justice,” Anthony Brown, Maryland’s attorney general, said on Monday. “While the order applies to all who meet its criteria, the impact is a triumphant victory for African Americans and other Marylanders of color who were disproportionately arrested, convicted and sentenced for actions yesterday that are lawful today.”
Maryland legalized the use of recreational marijuana by a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2022, and decriminalized the possessions of small amounts meant for person use. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational cannabis, according to The Associated Press.
Maryland joins the Biden administration, nine other states and some cities where officials have granted clemency in some form to people convicted of low-level marijuana offenses, according to a report from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Maryland’s action stands out for the large number of convictions it forgives at once, according to the organization.
Mr. Moore said his executive order was unique in pardoning people with convictions related to possession of cannabis-related paraphernalia, as well as cannabis possession.
The mass pardon does not remove the convictions entirely from people’s criminal records. Under Maryland’s program, people whose convictions are pardoned can apply to a state court for expungement of their records. Those cases are decided individually by judges, and are not automatic, an administration official told reporters in a background briefing.
The mass pardon applies automatically to anyone with an electronic record showing a misdemeanor marijuana conviction in the state. People with convictions that predate electronic records can also get a pardon, but they must apply individually; their requests will be granted if they meet the criteria, the official said.
By contrast, a pardon program in Pennsylvania for misdemeanor marijuana offenses is not automatic for anyone; all potential recipients must apply individually. Just under 300 people received pardons in 2023 under that program.
A low-level marijuana conviction could be a major life setback, according to Jason Ortiz, a director of the Last Prisoner Project, a group that advocates clemency for cannabis offenders.
“As someone who, at the age of 16, who was arrested for cannabis possession and actually had an accelerated charge because I had paraphernalia and a pack of rolling papers, I was thrown out of school, denied access to my high school education, ripped from my family and my friends and had to endure two years of isolation for a simple cannabis charge,” Mr. Ortiz said.
Several Republican lawmakers who have opposed a number of measures relating to the legalization of cannabis in Maryland did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the mass pardon.
The administration official said no one was currently serving prison time in Maryland for misdemeanor marijuana offenses alone, so the executive order would not directly free any prisoner. People convicted of both felony and misdemeanor charges would continue to serve their felony sentences even if the pardon has forgiven their misdemeanors.
Halina Bennet contributed reporting.
