Toronto’s TerrAscend Corp. (CSE: TER) (OTCQX: TRSSF) has partnered with a New Jersey law firm to help those convicted of cannabis-related crimes clear their records.
The cannabis company announced a partnership with The Hoffman Centers P.C. firm on Monday and the two organizations will be working together to provide free-cannabis related expungement services through Hoffman’s THCSponge Expungement Program.
The program was created to help rectify the harms caused by prohibition and aims to assist incarcerated individuals and others with prior cannabis-related convictions.
#TerrAscend has partnered with NJ-based law firm, The Hoffman Centers, P.C., to offer free expungement services, helping to correct the historical and present-day harms of #cannabis prohibition through restorative justice efforts. https://t.co/jVqkjXFbm7 $TER $TRSSF pic.twitter.com/AgQpFcJVWn
— TerrAscend (@terrascendcorp) February 27, 2023
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Those seeking to have cannabis-related crimes expunged from their record can fill out a form from the law firm to initiate that process.
“We recognize that a criminal record can have a debilitating, generational impact on both the individual and their family, affecting employment, housing, educating, voting, and much more,” said Jason Wild, Executive Chairman of TerrAscend.
“We are proud to help our patients, customers and community members start with a clean slate.”
New Jersey implemented its Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (CUMMA) in 2010, revised it in 2013 and then altered it even more in 2019 through the the introduction of the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act prior to cannabis being legalized in early 2021.
The CUMMA from 2010 and the more recent Jake Honig Act both state that decriminalizing cannabis in New Jersey protects those who have a legitimate medical reason to use cannabis. Ninety-nine per cent of cannnabis-related arrests in New Jersey were being made under state law rather than federal law, which inspired legal changes made in New Jersey in recent years.
Cannabis legalization is a growing trend in the United States
New Jersey opened its adult-use recreational cannabis market on April 21, 2022 following the state’s governor signing three bills in February 2021 that largely decriminalized the plant.
People will automatically have their criminal records expunged in the state if they were caught distributing less than one ounce of cannabis or less than five grams of hash pre-legalization.
However, clearing charges involving greater amounts will require more legal hurdles, which is why initiatives like Hoffman’s THCSponge Expungement Program have been established.
In 2021, a group of university students created an initiative called Students for Prison Education, Abolition and Reform (SPEAR) which aimed to help individuals in New Jersey clear their records of cannabis-related charges.
Joe Biden announced in October last year that he would be pardoning all federal offences related to cannabis possession specifically.
New York also recently opened its recreational adult-use cannabis market on December 29 last year.
In January, Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. granted many citizens in the territory automatic expungement for cannabis-related crimes involving less than two ounces. He also gave individuals with charges related to greater amounts the opportunity to apply for pardons.
Other states like Rhode Island and Connecticut also recently opened their recreational cannabis markets and currently, cannabis has been legalized in a total of 21 states.
rowan@mugglehead.com
