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Leamon said expungements are rare and most often used in historical prosecutions against LGBTQ people.

Photo by DOJA

She has heard arguments that people fighting past simple possession charges knew they were breaking the law before legalization. Those convictions still carry a moral culpability, in some people’s minds, Leamon said.

On the other hand, some people have been saddled with criminal records for trying to access cannabis for medical purposes, she said.

“I do applaud the Liberal government for recognizing this as something that’s very important, this issue of pardons and amnesty,” she said.

“But I think that there are some arguments to be made that it doesn’t go far enough. I would personally like to see more cannabis-related convictions being eligible for this expedited pardon system, and I would also like them to consider expungements in some cases.”

Outside the library, many people stopped to ask about the truck and petition.

David Stewart, who works for an education company, said he supported the push for expungement.

“I work a job where I send people to go teach English overseas and I’ve had to turn great people away because they have just a minor criminal possession of marijuana (charge),” he said. “It’s long overdue.”

Stewart believes cannabis is relatively harmless, when compared to alcohol, and people shouldn’t be punished for using it.

“We all know that it’s a disproportionate amount of people that are affected that are people of colour, from our First Nations community, so I think to have expungement is just kind of righting the wrongs of the past with cannabis rules,” he said.

Thomas Jordan, who works in hospitality, said a pardon still leaves a person with a “monkey on their back” for life.

“If there’s still a record of what people have done in the past, people can still look it up — like our friends across the border — and cause inconvenience and nonsense,” he said.

“I think they need to just get rid of any record of any contact with the product, because it shouldn’t have been illegal to start with.”

With files from The Canadian Press and National Post

neagland@postmedia.com

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