HARTFORD — In a follow-up to the 2021 law legalizing adult-use cannabis, the House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly approved further measures to remove marijuana possession from criminal records.
While the original recreational cannabis bill included requirements for erasing past records, Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin this year told lawmakers that prosecutors throughout the state had reviewed more than 4,200 active criminal cases and dropped 1,562 cannabis-possession charges.
“One thing we recognized was to undo the harm that the war on drugs with respect to cannabis has caused and to make sure we erase and are not prosecuting folks for simple possession of cannabis,” said Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “There were certain cannabis-related charges that were pending at the time of legalization that needed to be disposed of.” He noted that the bill changed since the start of the legislative session in January.
The bill would order the removal of simple cannabis possession charges from records that include other crimes, and allow incarcerated people to request sentence modifications. He offered a hypothetical. “While I may still face a sentence for one or more of the offenses for which I was convicted, I should not face adverse consequences,” Stafstrom said. “I should not face a sentence based on simple possession of cannabis.”
Both Stafstrom and Rep. Craig Fishbein of Wallingford, a top Republican on the panel, complimented Griffin for the review of the active cases and dropping of charges. “The fact that they took what we passed and prioritized this, they didn’t have to do this,” Fishbein said, adding that there had been an early argument over the separation of powers between the legislature and the judiciary on the issue.
The bill, which passed 138-10, next heads to the Senate.
H/T: www.newstimes.com
