LOS ANGELES — California has new deadlines to dismiss and seal many cannabis convictions under a law signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The move comes after a Los Angeles Times investigation found that tens of thousands of Californians still have felonies, misdemeanors and other cannabis convictions on their records. Despite a 2018 law that required the state to clear cannabis convictions, many counties have moved at glacial speeds. Some superior courts haven't fully processed a single case, the Times found.
"It is unimaginable and unacceptable that years after we legalized cannabis, Californians are still waiting to get their records cleared," the bill's author, Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Alameda), said in a statement. "We have a moral obligation to get this right."
