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Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order pardoning an estimated 175,000 of marijuana-related convictions on Monday.
Moore announced that he would pardon anyone convicted of a marijuana possession charge or a drug paraphernalia charge tied to the possession or use of marijuana at a signing ceremony Monday. The governor stressed that the pardons will help to correct what he believes to be past harms inflicted on “communities of color” through the “war on drugs,” noting that his actions coincide with the week of Juneteenth, a holiday that has been referred to as “black independence day.”
“I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore told The Washington Post. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”