Cannabis in Canada: Pardoning people for possession isn't enough

More than half a million Canadians have a criminal record because of cannabis possession
BBC News (UK)
Saturday, October 20, 2018

Canadians will get pardons if they were convicted of possessing marijuana before it was legalised. That means their criminal record for cannabis possession is kept separate from other criminal records - but it doesn't erase the crime. It could still affect people in situations like job applications, travelling abroad and getting houses - and the person who wants a pardon has to apply and pay for it. Some politicians argue that pardoning doesn't go far enough and something called expungement - when all government records of the crime are erased - should happen instead. "We now need to go back and be able to remove the stain that is on the record," the New Democratic Party's Guy Caron said.