Mass. legislators propose law to expunge pot charges in wake of legalization

BOSTON — Marijuana laws have changed in Massachusetts and now there is a proposed law to clear someone's record if what they did before the law changed is on their criminal record.

Andy Gaus, who now works with an advocacy group for marijuana law reform, was arrested after a police officer found marijuana on him. An amount he says that would now be legal to have.

"A cop happened to come up at the wrong time and handcuffed me and searched me,” he said. "It was a possession charge and I had to hire an attorney who managed to get it reduced to a sealed defense."

In Massachusetts, you can get a charge like this sealed, but the record still exists in several agencies -- including the police department.

State lawmakers have a bill on the table that would expunge convictions involving marijuana charges that are now legal.

“What you're actually doing is getting rid of all records…you're talking about the DA's records, the police department's records," explained President of the New England Bar Association Robert Harnais.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Patricia Jehlen from Somerville, reads in part, “an applicant for employment with an expunged record...may answer ‘no record’ to an inquiry relative to prior arrests.”

“I think to just have a broad brush expungement of records across the state is a bad idea and I think for the most part you're trying to solve a problem that really isn't true,” Norwood Police Chief William Brooks countered.

Chief Brooks says marijuana possession convictions rarely happen to someone who has a small amount of marijuana.

“The records you do see are likely people dealing marijuana and the charge was reduced to settle the case or the people were carrying marijuana when committing more serious crimes,” he said.

Andy believes if the state changed the law, people shouldn't be tied to the conviction forever.

"It doesn't serve any particular purpose if you wouldn't convict someone now. There's no particular purpose to keep a conviction alive,” said Gaus.

The bill was filed this year and is currently in a joint committee on marijuana policy. Right now there is no timeline for a vote.

Cox Media Group