CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Cook County’s top prosecutor is looking at a plan for expunging the records of people convicted of selling larger amounts of marijuana.
In an exclusive interview with the Sun-Times, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx framed cannabis legalization as a “test balloon” for reexamining the country’s drug laws.
Foxx told the Sun-Times she’d like to automatically wipe clean the records of people found guilty of selling between 30 and 500 grams of cannabis - those who currently have to petition the court to have their record expunged. Her office has already automatically expunged about 2,200 low-level pot convictions for possession of 30 grams or less - the amount of marijuana that’s now legal to carry.
Foxx said that in some parts of the city, selling drugs was the only economy that they had. Now, she said, selling marijuana is legal and people are making big money.
Foxx’s spokeswoman said the state’s attorney does not yet have any immediate plans for automatic expungements. It’s just a vision right now, she said.
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Additionally, Foxx said that her vision for reform doesn’t end with marijuana.
“What has been a long concern of mine…is other drugs that are still illegal, that are still being prosecuted, in some of these very neighborhoods that are being devastated by the war on drugs,” Foxx told the Sun-Times. “And marijuana was but one of the drugs. It wasn’t the totality of the devastation.”
Currently, possession of 15 grams or less of heroin or cocaine can result in a felony conviction that typically can’t be expunged from criminal records.
Asked whether she would advocate for expunging convictions for possession of harder drugs, Foxx answered “yes” — as long as it’s part of a larger, progressive approach to handling addiction, the Sun-Times reported.
“If we recognize substance abuse disorder as a health condition, then we must modify our justice system to treat it as such,” Foxx said. “Criminalizing health is not in the interest of public safety.”