Vermont Governor Pardons Hundreds of Pot Convictions

Vermont Governor Pardons Hundreds of Pot Convictions

Outgoing Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin has barely a week left in office, and he intends to put his time to good use by pardoning minor pot convictions.

As governor, Ive been trying to lead a more sane drug policy, said the Democratic governor, who has been in office since 2011.

As his days as governor come to an end, Shumlin is mulling over hundreds of applications for pardons for small amounts of weed convictions, which he offered earlier this month to people not otherwise charged with felonies or other crimes.

It could have happened in the1960s, 1970s, 1980s. There are thousands of them, saidShumlin. Weve got folks who got charged for an ounce or less of marijuana in a different era when we were running a failed War on Drugs. Lets give those folks the opportunity to have a clean record.

Shumlin announced on December 8that people could to go to his website and apply before December 25 for the Christmas pardon.

Now that the time has lapsed, Shumlins office received 460 applications in that two-week period, spokesperson Scott Coriell told WCAX News.

The governors staff is working with other agencies, including the Vermont Crime Information Center, to review each application.

Shumlin will likely issue the pardons next week, Coriell said. He added that they didnt expect to have any issues processing all of the applications by the time Shumlin leaves office on January 5.

Possession of small amounts of marijuana was decriminalized in Vermont in 2013.

If you were arrested today for the same offense, you would get the equivalent of a traffic ticket. Vermonts decriminalization bill also created an expungement law, allowing people to apply to have their records scrubbed ...

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