{"id":178,"date":"2021-08-02T11:18:48","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T11:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMieGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm1pZGRsZXRvd25wcmVzcy5jb20vbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlL0hvdy1sZWdhbGl6aW5nLXJlY3JlYXRpb25hbC1tYXJpanVhbmEtd2lsbC1hZmZlY3QtMTYzNTY5NDYucGhwP3Q9ZWJhNzRmYWYzYdIBAA"},"modified":"2021-08-02T11:18:48","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T11:18:48","slug":"how-legalizing-recreational-marijuana-will-affect-past-convictions-in-ct-middletown-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=178","title":{"rendered":"How legalizing recreational marijuana will affect past convictions in CT – Middletown Press"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Four years ago, Luis Vega was arrested with marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey pulled 28 full plants out of my little makeshift grow in my basement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Vega said those marijuana plants were for his own personal, medical use. Vega, originally from the Bronx, N.Y., but is now a New Haven resident, suffers from Crohn’s disease, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was operated on, I had lost my large intestine when I was 13 years old, I had an ostomy bag,\u201d he said, though he also admits that growing marijuana, even for personal, medical use was illegal.<\/p>\n

Vega is one of many Connecticut residents who will see low-level marijuana convictions disappear from their records, from the passage of both the clean-slate bill and the legalization of recreational cannabis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they grabbed me, all they were able to do was pull the same amount that would be legal if it was dried,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was no cash. There was no packaging. I just grew good cannabis for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Despite a master\u2019s degree, Vega found it difficult to bounce back. \u201cYou can’t get a job with a criminal record. You got to start a business. Do what you know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Vega now has 10,000 marijuana plants \u2014 and its legal. Vega owns and operates Wepa! Farms, which grows and processes marijuana for CBD products. He said he\u2019s subject to more scrutiny due to his conviction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m dotting my i’s crossing my t’s,\u201d he said, making sure he doesn\u2019t \u201cslip up, do something wrong, because everything I do is 100 percent under the scrutiny of so much more than anybody else in the program, because I have a history.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Vega is taking advantage of two newly passed laws. As an established marijuana cultivator, he\u2019s applying to grow, process and sell THC-heavy weed for recreational sales.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s also hoping the state\u2019s new clean slate law will wipe his record.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019d had an expunged record, or if I had not been arrested, or if I hadn’t been convicted or if I opted to take a plea deal, that wouldn’t have been on my record, and I wouldn’t be going through the scrutiny that I do go through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Decriminalization<\/h2>\n

Connecticut\u2019s move toward legalization began a decade ago, when the state decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. Years later, the state legalized marijuana for medical purposes, but there were still arrests being made.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, a lawyer and one of the primary legislative drivers of the bill to legalize recreational marijuana, said there are \u201cnot many people in prison on a pure possession charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Possession of small amounts of marijuana might result in a ticket or a fine, but larger amounts or growing your own, could land you in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of different elements of cannabis use and possession that were not decriminalized,\u201d said Jason Ortiz, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the immediate past president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association. \u201cWhen we talk about legalization, we’re legalizing sales and cultivation. And when we think about what decriminalization did, it was a small part of cannabis that got decriminalized.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, between 2011 \u2014 when the state decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana \u2014 and 2018, there were 27,977 convictions for possession of less than a half ounce of marijuana, according to the most recent state Judicial Branch data provided by the Office of Legislative Research.<\/p>\n

The clean slate bill will wipe many of those convictions away, even for people who have been charged with marijuana possession because they were caught while on parole.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder this bill, you could see an erasure of that charge, which led to the violation of probation or parole,\u201d Stafstrom said, though repeat drug offenders will not see their convictions expunged.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere you’re going to see people benefit the most from this, maybe you did plead to a possession of cannabis charge 15 years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cYou may not have served jail time, but that conviction is still on your record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all convictions will be wiped away at once. Convictions prior to 2000 have not been entered into an electronic database. Those will require a petition process, which Stafrstom said is \u201ca function of how the system is set up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those low-level convictions from decades ago can make finding a job or a home difficult, Vega said. He had an $80,000-a-year job, but lost it when he was convicted and sentenced to a year in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost my job. From there, as I start looking for work, I now have a fresh conviction. On top of that, it’s just for cannabis, so everybody says \u2018It’s just for cannabis, that doesn’t matter,\u2019 but it completely matters,\u201d he said. \u201cFresh out of the conviction, I can’t get a job now. Master’s degree and I still can’t get a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vega is now applying to be one of Connecticut\u2019s first recreational marijuana growers, a business investment he said nears $10 million that would not be possible with a cannabis conviction on his record.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t necessarily have to have that follow me as I go into a $10 million endeavor,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s a lot different from having this scarlet letter, one might say, on your record for a small-scale cannabis offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Selective enforcement\u2019<\/h2>\n

Ortiz, like Vega, is now a cannabis-related business owner and advocate. Vega was also charged with a cannabis offense, though his was when he was 16 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was somebody that went directly into the politics of it all, and was very angry about the policies,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it actually pushed me into the political sphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walking to high school at Norwich Free Academy, Ortiz and two friends were caught smoking a joint. He had two more joints on him. He was handcuffed and charged with, among other crimes, intent to sell to a minor.<\/p>\n