Easing Marijuana possession expungement under consideration now that pot is legal in Ohio
Owning and using marijuana has been legal in Ohio for nearly two weeks.
Now, those convicted of minor possession violations in the past are left wondering what will happen to their criminal records?
Ohio residents convicted of minor marijuana possession could already get their records sealed or cleared under a state law change earlier this year.
But, legislation being considered in Columbus would help pay for that. The legislation aims to make it easier, although it's not without a cost and a lot of work by the court system.
Voters approved Issue 2 legalizing recreational marijuana in Ohio last month and that initiative became law on Dec. 7.
The General Assembly is working on differing bills altering that legislation, with the bill passed by the Senate hoping to accelerate the expungement process and providing $15 million to pay for court training and new systems.
Those funds would come out of new tax money generated by legal marijuana sales.
Regina Campbell, managing attorney with the Greater Cincinnati Legal Aid Society, says such convictions can hurt someone's chances of landing a job or getting housing.
"Even a minor misdemeanor ticket for drugs can be seen by a landlord as indicating that they don't want to rent to you,” Campbell said. "In a tight labor market, where employers really have their pick of employees, if they want to find any reason for not hiring somebody, of course a ticket for a controlled substance or illegal substance can absolutely be a reason for them to deny employment."
Cincinnati police stopped ticketing citizens for marijuana possession last year, and city leaders explored expunging previous marijuana possession misdemeanors a few years ago
Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Pavan Parikh says that effort would have included approximately 13,500 tickets.
Parikh adds the system isn't set up for automatic expungements and a big flood of such requests would create major complications.
Another complication: the limit in the new law is 2.5 ounces of pot, while the criminal statute was created for up to 100 grams, or more than 3.5 ounces.
"From a systems perspective and looking at how we would process it? That creates problems for us,” Parikh said. “And so being able to split out those individual charges and how it references to those charges appear in other cases and other charges, would be very difficult if not impossible."
While the Senate passed its bill earlier this month, a measure strongly endorsed by Gov. Mike DeWine, the House is taking its time with its proposal.
That bill currently doesn't include any language regarding expungements.
But House Democrats say this expungement is a major issue for them as they press forward with any changes.
"It's a huge priority for me because it is a huge need and priority for my constituents,” said Ohio Rep. Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati. "Marijuana usage is pretty similar across racial groups and demographics and yet both the charging of crimes by criminal law enforcement and the conviction for marijuana-related crimes is totally racially disproportionate. So, this is a matter of racial equity and racial justice."
The two chambers appear far apart on some other issues so it could be weeks or months before any changes to Issue 2 are finalized.
Under the proposals currently in consideration, those wanting records sealed or expunged would still need to have a hearing in front of a judge and it would not apply to other previous convictions for different crimes.
Sealing would just take the record out of the public view, while expungement would destroy the record as if it was never there.
