In addition to legalizing recreational weed in California, Proposition 64 allows individuals who have been convicted of low-level marijuana offenses to have their convictions reduced or dismissed. An adult convicted of a minor offense (like possessing under 28.5 grams of weed, or growing 6 pot plants) can petition the court to have their case reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, or even dismissed and sealed.
State officials do not keep track of the total number of individuals who have taken advantage of this provision, but at least 2,500 requests have been filed to reduce convictions or sentences to date. More than half of California counties have not reported their data from the first quarter of this year, so the actual number may be even higher.
Attorneys who specialize in cannabis crime have reported a steady flow of clients interested in taking advantage of the new law, and have noted that prosecutors have not contested the majority of these petitions. In San Diego County, petitions to reduce sentences or convictions were granted in nearly 400 cases, according to Rachel Solov, chief of the collaborative courts division of the district attorney’s…