BOSTON (WHDH) – Governor Maura Healey is planning to bring to reality something she campaigned for office on: executive action to pardon marijuana convictions in Massachusetts.
“This is very exciting new,” said attorney Marvin Cable. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
Cable said his practice has seen countless cases where people have suffered the longtime consequences of being caught with the drug prior to its legalization in 2016.
“It gives a second chance to people who really kind of need the second chance, because they lack access to housing, they lack access to certain jobs,” Cable said.
Devin Alexander, the owner of Newton-based cannabis company Rolling Release, said he knows what it is like to have a simple possession charge used against him. Alexander said he was determined to join the Air Force after high school, but when he was 17 he was arrested on marijuana-related charges.
“After I got arrested, me and my mom went down to the Air Force recruiter to see if they would still take me,” he said. “They said ‘Don’t waste your time, you’re not going to get into the Air Force.”
If Healey’s announcement on Wednesday goes as expected, both Cable and Alexander are confident lives will change for the better – especially if the governor pardons a chunk of what would have previously been considered someone’s criminal history.
“Even as I sit here right now, there are still a lot of people that are incarcerated, even though there are people making millions of dollars for doing the same thing,” Alexander said.
Healey is expected to make the announcement at a press conference late Wednesday afternoon.
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