No pardons issued yet for low-level marijuana convictions

LAS VEGAS — Three weeks after Nevada announced the state would unconditionally pardon people who were convicted of possessing a small amount of pot, no pardons have been issued.

Denise Davis, the executive secretary of the State Board of Pardons Commissions, said Wednesday that the forms people can submit to apply for a pardon were only posted online Tuesday. Officials estimated that thousands would be eligible but Davis said only a handful of applications have come in so far and none were eligible.

Last month, the State Board of Pardons Commissioners unanimously voted to unconditionally pardon anyone who was convicted in the past two decades of possessing an ounce or less, an amount that was decriminalized when Nevada began allowing recreational pot sales in 2017.

To receive the pardon, people must fill out an application and submit a copy of their conviction or criminal history.

The resolution does not apply to convictions before 2001, when possessing less than an ounce of marijuana in Nevada was a felony crime. It also does not apply to people who pleaded guilty to possessing an ounce or less of marijuana, along with pleading guilty to other crimes, as part of the plea bargaining process.