PAST MARIJUANA CONVICTIONS CAN BE DISMISSED!

OK, not all past marijuana convictions can be dismissed. Last week the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that those individuals who had a pending appeal for possession of marijuana when Amendment 64 passed could have their convictions overturned and cases dismissed. See the news article here. So who does this effect? Unfortunately, it affects a relatively small class of individuals. For you to take advantage of this ruling you have to have a pending appeal for minor possession of marijuana.

This means that if you were charged with possession of marijuana prior to legalization, and you either had plead guilty or were found guilty, you are out of luck unless you filed an appeal. If you filed an appeal that had already been litigated, you’re out of luck here as well. While this ruling does not change the game for a majority of those who have a mar on their criminal record from a marijuana charge, it does show that higher courts are moving in the direction of taking the stigma away from simple marijuana possession. With marijuana possession legal in both Colorado and Washington, and many other states either introducing bills to legalize possession of marijuana or expanding medical marijuana availability, this is further evidence that nation is moving more and more toward tolerance to marijuana.

I’ll leave you with one bright spot. You may be eligible to have your record sealed if you were convicted of a minor drug offense more than 10 years ago. Feel free to call us if you have any questions!