Nearly 500,000 cannabis arrest records to be expunged by state four years ahead of schedule

On Dec. 31, Governor JB Pritzker announced 492,129 thousand non-felony cannabis related arrest records had been expunged at the state level by the Illinois State Police (ISP). The milestone announcement comes four years in advance of the deadline set in the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA), the most equity-centric cannabis legislation in the country signed into law by Pritzker in 2019. 

Additionally, the governor on Dec. 31 issued pardons for 9,219 low-level cannabis conviction records, for a total of over 20,000 cannabis convictions now pardoned since the signing of the legislation.

For more information, please see this week’s print edition.