With New State Law in Effect, Cleveland Will Pursue Expungement of 4,000 Low-Level Marijuana Convictions

Nearly a year after Mayor Bibb walked into the Justice Center intent on enacting local marijuana reform, his actions have helped residents not only in Cleveland but statewide have the chance to get low-level marijuana convictions off their records.

Ohio Senate Bill 288, the 500-page criminal justice reform behemoth that Bibb helped lobby for, went into effect last week. The bill carried provisions to allow Ohioans convicted for carrying under 200 grams, or for those caught with paraphernalia, to have them expunged.

Through community outreach by the city and in expungement clinics, 838 convictions in Cleveland, all for minor possession, have been erased since Bibb took office.

In the bigger picture, S.B. 288 will allow the city to help seal the criminal records of some 4,077 cases. Previously, someone with a conviction would have to ask the court to act, whereas the new bill allows cities to act on behalf of residents en masse. (A judge will decide in each case whether to grant the motion or not based on a variety of factors.)

“At the end of the day, these policies are about doing right by our citizens and giving them more opportunities to thrive,” said Mayor Bibb in a press release. “We will continue to spread the message that the City of Cleveland stands ready to help our citizens make positive steps forward in their lives.”

Wiping out minor drug charges could have an enormous impact on the lives of those still suffering the consequences.

A possession charge is known to carry a stigma that, experts say, can make renting an apartment, or landing a solid job, tough for the convicted. (An expungement would hide a previous conviction from an employer’s background check.)

Goals that, for many activists in the field, have been 10, 20 years in the making.

“This is what we have all been fighting for since day one: fairness and equality for all,” Pricilla Harris, executive director of the Sensible Movement Coalition and a director of NORML’s Appalachia Ohio branch, told Scene in a text message. Our “focus has been on the decriminalization movement due to the discriminatory practices targeting minorities when it comes to arrests for cannabis.

“It’s a second chance at a fair and just opportunity in life,” she added.

Brian Adams, an instructor at the Cleveland School of Cannabis, said S.B. 288’s impact, and the plausible “life changing” impact on the 4,000-plus Clevelanders, could lead him and his lobbying partners to strive for other cannabis checklist items. Seeing misdemeanor trafficking convictions—selling under 20 grams —expunged, Adams said, is hefty but a worthwhile step.

Yet minimizing light possession charges is, Adams believes, inching weed closer to the image of its more widely accepted cousin, alcohol.

“Twenty to 30, maybe even 40 percent of us still live in that mindset where cannabis is lumped right alongside of other [substances] that are harmful,” Adams told Scene in a phone call. “But we’re slowly shaking that stigma. It took 80 years to build it, so it’s going to take a little bit to shake it for everyone.”

Starting this month, Ohioans who believe they qualify for an expungement under S.B. 288 can use this form on the website of Attorney General Dave Yost to file. Applicants can also stay tuned, the city stated, for an announcement of more one-day clinics in 2023, where expungements can be filed for in person.

For Adams, who himself will be seeking an expungement for carrying a film-canister’s-worth of weed in his twenties, his message to those like him brims with high spirits.

“Now begins a new life,” Adams said, impassioned. “You have witnessed a new awakening, coming out of your cocoon. And don’t forget to get involved in the fight.”

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This article appears in Apr 5-19, 2023.