MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has issued 192 pardons to people convicted of minor marijuana violations before the state decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
In a statement, Shumlin said a minor marijuana possession charge should not hold people back from getting a job or going about their lives.
About 450 people applied for the pardons.
He says despite changing attitudes about marijuana, there is still a harmful stigma associated with it.
Thousands of Vermonters were charged with misdemeanor possession crimes before such possession was decriminalized in 2013.
Shumlin says that for many of those people those convictions made it harder to find employment, work in federal buildings, apply to college or even chaperone children on school trips.
Shumlin leaves office Thursday.
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