HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania’s Governor says he will be expediting marijuana pardons.
Governor Tom Wolf announced Wednesday the Board of Pardons will be extending pardons for those arrested for a minor non-violent marijuana charge.
Wolf says that the charge generally leads to a “lifetime of being unable to get a job, rent an apartment or get into higher education.”
The Board said it currently takes about 2.5 years to hear marijuana-specific crimes. The expedited pardon program hopes to cut that time to a year or less.
A pardon is often the first step to applying for expungement, which occurs in the county where charges were filed, because a pardon means the state has forgiven a crime.
Expungement removes the conviction from an individual’s criminal record on the public domain.
Earlier this year, New York State expunge the records of more than 160,000 people convicted on minor non-violent marijuana charges.
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