By Marie Cyprien, A+ Editing & Content Creation
Orlando – If a new bill by Florida state Senator, Randolph Bracy, becomes law, Floridians may see their misdemeanor marijuana convictions wiped away by July. The legislation was announced at a press conference outside Curaleaf, a medical marijuana dispensary in Orlando in January.
This bill primarily applies to misdemeanor marijuana convictions including the distribution and possession of less than 20 grams. However, while the bill would not completely erase records, it would make it easier for those with these convictions to get them removed. Even better, the bill would also clear criminal records for a large amount of people including Black and Latino people who studies have shown are more likely to be arrested for minor drug crimes than their white counterparts.
As quoted in the Sun Sentinel, Bracy said, “I think it’s extremely important, especially when you look at the people who have not been able to get a job, not been able to apply for school because of these minor convictions.”
Barcy points out that, “we have created and expanded a billion-dollar marijuana industry and yet we have not repaired people who for decades have been incarcerated for low-level marijuana crimes. It is time as this industry continues to expand, that we repair people and make people whole so they can start to build their lives so these convictions don’t haunt them for the rest of their lives.”
Jacksonville attorney and marijuana law reform advocate, Sally Kent Peebles, is in huge support of this bill, citing that it could open an opportunity for an erasure of all marijuana felonies. As she told the Sun Sentinel, “if he is able to pass this with misdemeanors, it could certainly happen (with felonies) in the 2022 legislative session.”
It seems like most of Florida is in approval as well since voters approved marijuana for medical use in 2016. However, the battle to decriminalize the drug have been delayed with cities allowing law enforcement to issue fines or citations rather than making arrests. Attorney John Morgan, who has also worked to legalize medical marijuana in Florida told the Sun Sentinel that he believes the new bill will be well received in the legislature.
Read the bill here.
