In Illinois, cannabis became legal for adult purchase, possession, and consumption within certain guidelines set by law on January 1, 2020. 410 ILCS 705/1-1. However, many laws previously enacted still treated cannabis as a controlled substance, which lead to an unexpected consequence for those who chose to begin possessing and consuming cannabis once it was legal.
The Criminal Identification Act is the law governing the expungement and sealing of criminal records in Illinois. 20 ILCS 2630/0.01, et seq. The Criminal Identification Act previously made defendants ineligible for expungement or sealing of criminal records if the defendant submitted a drug test that tested positive for any illicit drugs, including cannabis.
Because of the way those two laws interacted, there was essentially still a punishment for adult consumption of cannabis if you were a cannabis user in Illinois looking to expunge or seal certain criminal records that required proof of a clean drug screen. The request could be denied by the judge for failure to pass the drug screen, even though cannabis had been legalized.
In response, the Illinois legislature passed Public Act 102-933, which became effective January 1, 2023. This act amended the Criminal Identification Act to include a key provision: “(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall not deny a petition to expunge or seal under this Section because the petitioner has submitted a drug test taken within 30 days before the filing of the petition to expunge or seal that indicates a positive test for the presence of cannabis within the petitioner’s body.” 20 ILCS 2630/5.2(d)(5)(d).
This way, adult cannabis users in Illinois seeking expungement can now continue to legally consume cannabis in adherence with state law without becoming ineligible to expunge or seal eligible criminal records. If you have Illinois criminal records and would like to know if they are eligible for expungement or sealing, the Attorneys at Finegan Rinker & Ghrist have helped expunge and seal records of hundreds of cases in Central Illinois and would be happy to discuss your case with you for free.
Source: https://www.chicagocriminallawyer.com/drug-tests-may-no-longer-be-needed-for-il-drug-expungements/
Source: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/102/102-0933.htm
