{"id":8610,"date":"2019-01-09T19:11:13","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T19:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3320445"},"modified":"2019-01-09T19:11:13","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T19:11:13","slug":"denver-will-erase-some-marijuana-convictions-the-mayor-says-it-could-finally-diversify-an-awfully-white-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/denver-will-erase-some-marijuana-convictions-the-mayor-says-it-could-finally-diversify-an-awfully-white-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Denver will erase some marijuana convictions. The mayor says it could finally diversify an \u201cawfully white\u201d industry."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/denver-will-erase-some-marijuana-convictions-the-mayor-says-it-could-finally-diversify-an-awfully-white-industry\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/hawaii-medical-marijuana.jpg?w=1024&amp;h=683\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The city of Denver will help thousands of people clear low-level marijuana convictions from their criminal records through an online program and a series of clinics.<\/p>\n<p>It will be one of the first such efforts in Colorado, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/12\/04\/denver-expunge-marijuana-records\/\">along with a similar push in Boulder<\/a>. And it\u2019s part of what Mayor Michael Hancock describes as a broader effort to reverse the impact of the \u201cwar on drugs\u201d and help the marijuana industry evolve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a lot of young men and women of color who are in this city and around the state of Colorado who today can\u2019t get certain jobs \u2014 can\u2019t be gainfully employed in the marijuana industry \u2014 because they have these low-level marijuana convictions on their records that today are legal,\u201d Hancock said.<\/p>\n<p>The program will allow people who were charged in Denver to completely erase convictions for acts that are now legal in Colorado. It applies to charges like small-scale possession of marijuana or paraphernalia prior to\u00a0legalization, which voters approved in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s more than just helping people,\u201d said District Attorney Beth McCann. \u201cWe are proactively saying to the community, in the interest of justice and fairness, we\u2019re going to agree and the courts are going to grant motions to seal and vacate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just that records will be removed from public view. Instead, charges will be fully vacated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat that does it that it means there\u2019s really never a conviction at all,\u201d McCann said.<\/p>\n<p>While Coloradans have limited options for sealing criminal records, vacating charges is often difficult or impossible.<\/p>\n<p>There may be 13,000 people eligible for Denver\u2019s program, but the city expects a smaller number to participate.<\/p>\n<p>People can submit an application through a new city website or attend\u00a0in-person clinics to be hosted around the city over the next few months. The program is free and requires only a driver\u2019s license or other government-issued photo ID.<\/p>\n<p>McCann suggests that people attend the in-person clinics, where they also can meet with an immigration attorney and a defense attorney to make sure there aren\u2019t any legal complications.<\/p>\n<p>Once people submit paperwork, the DA\u2019s office will bring requests to a judge who will clear eligible records.<\/p>\n<p>Officials decided not to attempt to automatically clear all the records. People have to submit applications because the city otherwise would have had to pay an outside company to search for eligible cases. The chosen approach will not require special funding or resources, according to McCann. The effort took about 18 months of preparation, Hancock said.<\/p>\n<p>New Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is working with the legislature on a bill that would do something similar statewide.<\/p>\n<p>Hancock said the city program could address one common complaint about Colorado\u2019s legalization process: Black and Latino communities were heavily affected by marijuana enforcement, and now they deal with the smells and impacts of cannabis facilities, but they are under-represented as employees and owners of the industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, we\u2019ve had people who have come from outside the state of Colorado and have looked at our industry and go \u2018Boy, you guys look awfully white,\u201d Hancock said. \u201cHow do you open this opportunity up for other folks to be full participants?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He has asked his staff to look for more ways to diversify the industry, he said. It\u2019s part of Hancock\u2019s larger attempt to influence and be involved with marijuana policy nationwide, including on issues such as banking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did not support the legalization of recreational marijuana. I\u2019ve been very clear about that,\u201d Hancock said. \u201cAt the end of the day, however, we legalized it, and now we need to make sure that we have a responsible and accountable policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to participate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Go online:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.denvergov.org\/content\/denvergov\/en\/denver-marijuana-information\/DenverMarijuanaEquityandSocialJustice.html\">Denvergov.org\/ANewLeaf<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Attend a clinic: Applicants must bring government-issued photo identification such as a driver\u2019s license. If they are eligible to have their case vacated, prosecutors or city attorneys will draft documents on their behalf.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Feb. 9 \u2014 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Denver Conflict Center, 4140 Tejon St.<\/li>\n<li>Feb. 24 \u2014 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Denver Park Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church,\u00a03385 Albion St.<\/li>\n<li>March 6 \u2014 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Servicios de La Raza, 31331 W. 14th Ave.<\/li>\n<li>March 21 \u2014 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Cultivated Synergy, 2901 Walnut St.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Staff writer Anna Staver contributed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Denver officials will help thousands of people convicted of low-level marijuana crimes expunge their records in a series of four clinics in February and March. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7940,6811,6897,6812,7540,6813,7938,77,6814,6815,7961,9,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[7941,6816,6898,6817,7541,6818,7939,2655,6819,6820,7962,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}