Democrat Gov. Wes Moore has announced that his office is pardoning nearly 7,000 Marylanders with prior marijuana-related convictions. These are in addition to the 175,000 marijuana-related pardons the Governor issued last year.
“Governor Moore’s progressive leadership on righting the wrongs of cannabis criminalization in Maryland is commendable,” said NORML Development Director JM Pedini. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans across the nation are still stigmatized by past convictions that most US jurisdictions now no longer consider a crime. Given the overwhelming popularity with voters, clearing marijuana-related records should be a justice priority in every state that has yet to do so.”
Pardons are a recognition of forgiveness for a past crime. As required by separate legislation signed by the Governor earlier this year, all pardoned cannabis possession offenses will be removed from public view by January 31, 2026.
Maryland legalized the adult use cannabis market in 2023.
According to publicly available data compiled by NORML, elected officials and courts nationwide have issued over 350,000 marijuana-related pardons and more than two million marijuana-related expungements since 2018.
The full text of the updated report, Marijuana Pardons and Expungements: By the Numbers, is available from NORML.