San Francisco to Expunge 9,300 Cannabis Convictions

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]O[/dropcap]ver 9,300 cannabis-related misdemeanor and felony convictions will be erased in San Francisco, California according to a Feb. 25 announcement from San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón. While only five percent of San Francisco’s population is black, and black and white Americans consume cannabis at similar rates, the city’s black community makes up about one-third of cannabis convictions.

Gascón’s office announced that 9,362 convictions are eligible for expungement. The move follows a review of cannabis convictions in the state that lasted a year. The number of eligible convictions was calculated through Code for America, a nonprofit entity that created an algorithm to go through countless convictions dating back to 1975. Before the city utilized Code for America’s technology, they only found about 1,000 eligible convictions through tedious paperwork by hand.

Gascón reiterated the urgent need for criminal reparations. “Drug use in this country occurs across economic and racial lines, but the people that end up being the subjects of the criminal justice system’s attention are poor people and people of color,” stated Gascón. “There is nothing just about that.”

Under Proposition 64, individual California residents can petition to have their own records expunged, but few are able to navigate the system on their own. That’s led several cities like San Francisco to provide assistance to those who need it, and the city was among the first to take the initiative. A conviction, especially a felony conviction, can haunt a person for their whole life and exclude them from services and opportunities.

Many other California cities are considering wiping out cannabis convictions. In Los Angeles County, for instance, the district attorney’s office estimates there are about 40,000 felony convictions involving cannabis since 1993.

Code for America plans on setting up in other Californian cities. The company’s goal is to clear 250,000 convictions by the end of the year.