States confront the casualties of the war on pot
LOS ANGELES - With the tap of a computer key, prosecutors in Los Angeles and Chicago plan over the coming weeks to erase tens of thousands of marijuana convictions from people's criminal records, a key part of a progressive crime-fighting strategy that is seeking to rectify the wrongs of a decades-long drug war.
Prosecutors and legal aid advocates say purging arrest and conviction records removes barriers to jobs and housing, helping to stabilize and improve troubled communities. Jettisoning marijuana convictions has taken on added urgency as more states legalize the possession and sale of marijuana, a lucrative trade, and confront the vexing question of how to handle convictions for crimes that are no longer crimes.
"We are undoing the harm prosecutors have caused," said Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, whose office handles prosecutions in Chicago, a city of 2.7 million
