The war on drugs has led to too many people with criminal records. Many of those people have marijuana convictions. Those convictions, citations and the like come with
far-reaching consequences. The
New York Times talks with Erika Walton who paid a fine for marijuana possession back in her 20s. She is finally getting her conviction sealed.
“It’s taken away a lot of my life,” Ms. Walton said as she inked out her fingerprints, which Oregon requires applicants for sealing to file.
The mark on her record was minor — a citation for possession under Oregon law, even back then, was below the level of a misdemeanor, roughly equivalent to riding the light rail without a ticket. But it still cost her, she said, when she had to divulge it on applications for jobs and volunteer positions at her children’s school.
This is great news for the thousands of people dogged by war on drugs.