San Francisco isn’t the only city willing to wipe clean the records of those convicted of pot-related crimes.
District Attorney George Gascón says three different jurisdictions have approached his office for advice on how to make similar changes.
“Some people haven’t done the legal research [on the process],” he told Cheddar. “We started looking at this weeks ago.”
“The law says the petitioner has to hire an attorney, petition the court, have a court appearance...This is a tremendous burden on the community. We came to the determination we could do this ourselves, without anyone asking for it. We will save the communities hours of effort and funding.”
The San Francisco DA’s office said this week it would apply more lenient rules on marijuana possession to cases dating back to 1975. That means more than 3,000 misdemeanor sentences will be dismissed, and almost 5,000 felony convictions will be reviewed and possibly resentenced.
Gascón says it’s important the changes are applied retroactively.
“It makes no sense either morally or legally to have someone commit a crime December 31, 2017, in our case, and on January of 2018, that’s no longer a crime,” he said. “It makes no sense whatsoever. The whole idea of the war on marijuana around the nation is wrong-headed, and we need to move in a different direction.”
California became the largest state in the country to legalize recreational marijuana on January 1.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/other-cities-considering-following-san-franciscos-lead-in-clearing-marijuana-convictions).
A flow of recent data from the U.S. government has made one thing strikingly clear: A surge in consumer spending is fueling strong growth, demonstrating a resilience that has confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and even the sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opinion polls.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning parents and caregivers not to buy or serve certain pureed fruit pouches marketed to toddlers and young children because the food might contain dangerous levels of lead.
Some pumpkin farmers in the West, particularly wholesalers in places like Colorado and New Mexico, are feeling the pinching effects of drought.
General Motors and the United Auto Workers union have reached a tentative contract agreement that could end a six-week-old strike against Detroit automakers, three people briefed on the deal said.
Apple's 8pm ET event Monday will revolve around its iMAC computer lineup of products which are expected to contain its new faster and three next-generation silicon chip.
McDonald's reported better-than-expected profit and sales in the third quarter.
Major stock indexes are slated to close lower this month as investors brace for the Federal Reserve's rate decision and ahead of new jobs data.
The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert and specifically mentioned 26 eye drop products from a number of brands.
Workers at a number of pharmacy chains nationwide were planning a walkout Monday and going through Wednesday.
President Joe Biden on Monday will sign a sweeping executive order to guide the development of artificial intelligence — requiring industry to develop safety and security standards, introducing new consumer protections and giving federal agencies an extensive to-do list to oversee the rapidly progressing technology.
