The Massachusetts Governor’s Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal to grant clemency to residents with past misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions, making the New England state the first to align with the Biden administration’s federal pot pardon program.
In a letter to the governor’s council maintaining the court’s “neutral position” on the pardon proposal, Chief Justice of Massachusetts Trial Courts Heidi Brieger estimated it to be around 22,000 while councilor Terrence Kennedy said the number he’s heard “kicked around” is closer to 69,000 to 100,000.
The move was initiated by Gov. Maura Healey and hugely praised by the council, with some suggesting it didn’t go nearly far enough.
Councilor Paul DePalo called for the pot pardon to serve as a model to pardon other types of past convictions for crimes, including prostitution and something called joint-venture first-degree murder convictions.
A typical example of someone convicted of joint venture murder is the getaway car driver in an armed robbery that resulted in someone getting shot and killed.
“Second of all, I’m thinking of something that has come before the council before, and that is folks who’ve been convicted under joint venture theory of first-degree murder when they’re not the principal actor,” said Mr. DePalo. “And I wonder if a blanket commutation for those folks which would not exonerate them but would give them the opportunity to seek a parole hearing whether that would be appropriate.”
But not everyone heralded the historic move.
“I find it despicable that a governor would support lawlessness in their state by pardoning marijuana convictions. Does the rule of law mean anything to those who pander for a pro-marijuana vote?” Phillip Drumm, a member of Parents Opposed To Pot (POPPOT), told The Epoch Times.
In an interview following the council’s vote, Mr. Drumm said his sister was killed by a marijuana-impaired driver in 2012 while on her way to work her shift as a nurse at a Seattle hospital.
He said the driver had multiple marijuana convictions, including some that were re-classified as misdemeanors under decriminalization laws.
“We have seen how the government has lowered the definitions of crime. What is next, rape?” he said.
Massachusetts is one of many states that decriminalized the possession of marijuana for personal use. In 2022, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation pardoning all federal offenses for simple marijuana possession.
Advocates for the pardon say it’s not fair for people’s backgrounds to be blemished with something no longer illegal.
Pauline Quirion, an attorney and director of the re-entry project with Greater Boston Legal Services, told the governor’s council that she has seen countless people unable to get a job, secure housing, or even volunteer at their children’s school because of a conviction of something that is now legal in the state.
“It really will help to right many of the wrongs, you know, all across the state, so many people have suffered for so long because of these old cannabis offenses,” she said.
Ahead of the council’s vote in favor of the pardon policy, Daniel Vasquez told the board his dreams of going into criminal justice were dashed when a marijuana possession conviction he received as a minor prevented him from getting internships with law enforcement agencies.
“Although my troubles started when I was a juvenile and I had the fortunate experience of having great mentors to turn my life around, it did rear its ugly head when I was an adult,” said Mr. Vasquez, who said he now “legally” works in the cannabis industry in Massachusetts.
An activist smokes marijuana during the annual NYC Cannabis Parade & Rally in support of the legalization of marijuana for recreational and medical use in New York City on May 1, 2021. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
David Evans, senior counsel for Cannabis Industry Victims Educating Litigators (CIVEL) told The Epoch Times, that helping people get jobs and housing should not outweigh public safety.
He pointed to multiple studies, including one by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), that show marijuana use is strongly linked to violent crimes and mental health problems, including aggressive behavior.
A compilation of the studies by his organization included reports by several mental health authorities, including Psychology Today, Psychological Medicine, and The American Journal of Psychiatry, that all found there was an association between cannabis use and physical violence.
“Many people associate a peaceful, summer of love mentality with marijuana,” said Mr. Evans. “When in reality many people develop anxiety after they begin using marijuana, and start using it whenever they have anxiety thinking that more marijuana will calm them.”
According to Scott Chipman, Vice President of Americans Against Legalizing Marijuana (AALM), a recent study of arrests in San Diego, California, showed that 70 percent of alleged perpetrators tested positive for marijuana at the time of their arrest.
“If the public was made aware of toxicology reports of mass murderers as well as more aware of the connection between marijuana use and criminal behavior, they would likely be less supportive of so-called legalization of marijuana and drugs in general,” he said.
Mr. Kennedy believes Massachusetts should be tracking down eligible candidates.
“Don’t you think we should be making more of an effort to find those other people and who they are,” he said. “Most people that [sic] have a marijuana conviction don’t know what’s going on in this room today and never will—okay? ”
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, who testified in favor of the pardon, agreed, saying that the state should be using its “best resources available” to identify the cases and process the pardon automatically.
Others who testified in favor of the pardon included Newton Police Chief John Carmichael, who said the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association also supported the new pardon policy “but not without controversy.”
“It was not a consensus,” he said.
Mr. Drumm charged the state of Massachusetts with setting a dangerous precedence.
“Would you want this for your child’s nurse anesthetist or airplane mechanic,” he said.
