Thor Benson / Cannabis News Box Contributor

California lawmakers have passed a bill that would reverse past cannabis convictions for those who were found to have violated the law pre-legalization. Now the bill will likely be signed by California Gov. Jerry Brown. Cannabis advocates say this is an important step for reversing the harm done by the War on Drugs.

“It is a simple question of justice,” Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Association, told Cannabis News Box. “It’s unjust that people should continue to bear the weight of a conviction, now that the ‘crime’ they were convicted of is no longer criminal.”

The number of convictions that would be affected by this change would not be low, with over 220,000 cases are estimated to be affected. It will likely take years to get through them all, and some will be reduced sentences, while others will be gotten rid of entirely. Allen said this bill passing would have an effect on the state’s cannabis industry.

“The reform of cannabis laws did not happen in a vacuum. The people who were convicted—especially in recent years—were not casual consumers,” he said. “They were growers and business owners who were pushing the envelope and working to build a market despite an unjust law. Right now a lot of those people are at a real disadvantage in the compliance process. This legislation will help, but more needs to be done to ensure this transition is just and equitable.”

Allen said the people who helped build the industry should not be left behind by people who only recently entered it. Those who were targeted by the War on Drugs before legalization, he said, shouldn’t be forced out of cannabis growing. He also believes other aspects of the law need to be looked at that are connect to the War on Drugs.

“California voters passed Prop 64 and it included a cap on cultivation, preventing the establishment of grows larger than one acre for the first five years,” Allen said. “This policy was meant to provide tens of thousands of growers who built businesses in the shadows the time they need to transition. Implementing this policy is an important step to ensure that the communities that fought the war on drugs are able to transition.”

People like Allen worry that folks with a lot of money and no past convictions will be able to take over the industry while others who have been involved for years will be pushed to the sidelines. He hopes California lawmakers will prevent this from happening.