Cannabis Expungement in 2026: A State-by-State Progress Report

When voters and legislators legalized cannabis across what is now 28 states with adult-use markets, the promise was not just about letting adults buy flower at a dispensary. It was about justice. If cannabis is legal, the reasoning went, then the millions of Americans carrying criminal records for possessing and selling the same substance should have those records cleared.

It was a powerful promise. Six years into the legal era’s expansion, the delivery on that promise ranges from genuinely transformative to functionally non-existent. Some states have expunged hundreds of thousands of records through automated systems that require no action from affected individuals. Others have passed expungement laws that are so bureaucratic, underfunded, or narrowly written that they have helped almost no one.

This report examines the current state of cannabis expungement across legal states, identifies the models that work and those that do not, and quantifies the gap between promise and reality.

The Scale of the Problem

Before examining state-by-state progress, the scope deserves emphasis. The ACLU estimates that between 2001 and 2020, over 8.2 million cannabis arrests were made in the United States. The majority were for simple possession. These arrests, and the resulting criminal records, have had cascading consequences: denied employment, rejected housing applications, lost educational opportunities, revoked professional licenses, and immigration complications.

The burden was — and remains — profoundly unequal. Despite roughly equal usage rates, Black Americans were 3.6 times more likely than white Americans to be arrested for cannabis offenses. In some jurisdictions, the disparity exceeded 10 to 1. Any expungement effort that fails to reach these disproportionately affected communities is, by definition, failing in its core purpose.

As of early 2026, an estimated 2.1 million cannabis-related records have been expunged or sealed across all legal states. That sounds substantial — and it is — but it represents roughly 25 percent of the eligible records. Three out of four people who qualify for relief have not received it.

The Models That Work

Automatic Expungement: Illinois, New Jersey, and California

The most effective expungement systems share a common feature: they do not require the affected individual to do anything. Records are identified and cleared by the state, without the need for petitions, court hearings, legal representation, or fees.

Illinois has been the national leader. Its Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act included the most comprehensive automatic expungement provision of any legalization law, covering possession offenses of up to 30 grams. The state partnered with Code for America’s Clear My Record technology to identify and process eligible records. As of March 2026, Illinois has expunged over 780,000 cannabis-related records — more than any other state. The governor’s office reports that the process is approximately 92 percent complete for eligible records.

The Illinois model works because it addressed the fundamental barrier: asking people with criminal records to navigate the legal system is asking them to engage with the same system that harmed them in the first place. Many eligible individuals do not know they qualify, cannot afford an attorney, cannot take time off work for court appearances, or simply distrust the process. Automation eliminates all of these barriers.

New Jersey adopted a similar model when it legalized in 2021. The state’s Marijuana Decriminalization law mandated automatic expungement of possession offenses and created a dedicated unit within the court system to process records. New Jersey has expunged approximately 360,000 records as of early 2026, with the process ongoing.

California took a hybrid approach. Proposition 64 (2016) allowed individuals to petition for resentencing or expungement, but uptake was slow. Assembly Bill 1793 (2018) shifted the burden to prosecutors, requiring district attorneys in each county to review eligible cases and file motions for dismissal or redesignation. San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties moved aggressively; others dragged their feet. A 2024 state law closed the gaps by mandating automated record sealing for most cannabis offenses through the Department of Justice. Approximately 520,000 records have been cleared statewide, though the county-by-county implementation created significant geographic inequity during the transition period.

The Common Thread

States with successful expungement programs share three characteristics:

1. Automatic processing. The individual does not need to initiate the process.
2. Dedicated funding. Staff, technology, and infrastructure are budgeted specifically for expungement, not pulled from existing court resources.
3. Broad eligibility. Expungement covers possession and low-level distribution offenses rather than being limited to the narrowest category of possession-only cases.

The Models That Are Struggling

Petition-Based Systems: Michigan, Arizona, and Others

Several states passed expungement provisions that require affected individuals to petition the court — essentially asking people to proactively navigate the legal system to access relief they were promised.

Michigan legalized cannabis in 2018 and included expungement provisions for certain offenses. However, the process requires individuals to file a petition with the court, attend a hearing, and in some cases, demonstrate rehabilitation. As of 2026, Michigan has processed approximately 15,000 expungement petitions related to cannabis — a fraction of the estimated 235,000 eligible records.

The state recognized the problem and passed the Clean Slate Act in 2020, which created automatic expungement for certain offenses after specified waiting periods. However, the act’s implementation has been plagued by technology delays and data quality issues in the state’s criminal records system. Full implementation is now expected in late 2026 — six years after passage.

Arizona legalized in 2020 and allowed individuals to petition for expungement of cannabis records. The petitioning process was made relatively simple, with standardized forms available online. Despite this, only an estimated 8,000 petitions had been filed as of early 2026, out of approximately 180,000 eligible records. Advocates attribute the low uptake to lack of awareness, distrust of the legal system, and the practical challenges of navigating even a simplified petition process.

Narrow Eligibility: New York’s Growing Pains

New York was supposed to be a model for cannabis justice. The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (2021) included expungement provisions and created the Office of Cannabis Management with an explicit social equity mandate. However, the expungement process has been hampered by the same bureaucratic dysfunction that plagued the state’s broader cannabis rollout.

New York’s expungement provision is limited to simple possession and specific low-level sale offenses. Many individuals convicted of distribution-level offenses — who were often simply sharing cannabis within their communities — do not qualify. The state estimates that approximately 200,000 records are eligible, but as of early 2026, only about 60,000 have been processed.

The broader failure is contextual. New York’s legal cannabis market has been beset by regulatory delays, a thriving unlicensed market, and implementation controversies. Expungement has been deprioritized relative to licensing and market development — a choice that advocates have vocally criticized.

The States That Have Done Almost Nothing

Several legal states have passed laws that technically allow expungement but have implemented them so poorly that the practical effect is negligible.

Montana legalized in 2020 but did not include automatic expungement. The petition process is cumbersome, and no dedicated resources have been allocated. Fewer than 500 cannabis expungements have been granted statewide.

Missouri legalized in 2022 with provisions for automatic expungement of possession offenses, but implementation has been delayed by lawsuits challenging the legalization measure itself and by administrative resistance in some circuit courts. Approximately 5,000 records have been processed against an estimated 100,000 eligible.

South Dakota is arguably the most egregious case. Despite voters approving legalization in 2020 (later struck down by the state supreme court) and again in 2024, the state legislature has enacted no expungement provisions whatsoever. Individuals continue to carry records for conduct that is now legal.

The Federal Blind Spot

State-level expungement addresses only state convictions. Federal cannabis offenses, while less numerous, carry unique consequences: individuals with federal cannabis convictions face restrictions on firearm ownership, voting rights in some jurisdictions, federal employment, and immigration.

The federal government has taken limited action. President Biden’s 2022 pardon of federal simple possession offenses was symbolically important but practically narrow — it applied to an estimated 6,500 people, none of whom were incarcerated for the pardoned offenses. No systematic federal expungement process exists.

The ongoing federal rescheduling process, while focused on regulatory classification rather than criminal justice, could theoretically create momentum for federal expungement legislation. But as of April 2026, no such legislation has advanced beyond committee hearings.

Beyond the Record: Making Expungement Meaningful

Clearing a criminal record is necessary but not sufficient to undo the harm of cannabis prohibition. Several states have recognized this and are implementing complementary measures.

Social equity licensing programs in Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and several other states prioritize cannabis business licenses for individuals with prior cannabis convictions and residents of communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs. These programs have faced significant implementation challenges — underfunding, litigation, and predatory investors — but represent an important principle: those harmed by prohibition should benefit from legalization.

Reentry services. A few states have linked expungement programs to employment assistance, housing support, and business development resources. Connecticut’s program, which pairs automated record clearing with a navigated reentry services platform, has shown promising early results in connecting expungement recipients with economic opportunities.

Community reinvestment funds. A portion of cannabis tax revenue in several states is directed to communities disproportionately affected by cannabis enforcement. These funds support youth programs, community development, housing assistance, and substance abuse treatment. The amounts vary widely — from meaningful in Illinois and New Jersey to tokenistic in several other states.

Recommendations

Based on the evidence from six years of state expungement efforts, the policy prescriptions are clear:

1. Automate everything. Petition-based systems do not work at scale. Any state still requiring individuals to navigate the court system for cannabis expungement is choosing to leave most eligible people behind.

2. Broaden eligibility. Limiting expungement to simple possession ignores the reality that many distribution-level offenses involved small quantities and non-violent conduct. Eligibility should cover all offenses that would be legal under current law.

3. Dedicate funding. Expungement is not free. States must allocate specific resources — technology, staff, and legal support — rather than adding expungement to the already overburdened court system’s responsibilities.

4. Set deadlines. States that passed expungement laws without implementation timelines have uniformly underperformed. Statutory deadlines with accountability mechanisms are essential.

5. Pair clearing with opportunity. A clean record is the beginning, not the end. Linking expungement to economic opportunity — employment, housing, business development — multiplies its impact.

The Bottom Line

Cannabis expungement is, at its core, a test of whether legalization is truly about justice or merely about commerce. The plant is now legal in the majority of the country. The companies producing and selling it are generating billions in revenue. The states taxing it are collecting hundreds of millions annually.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans — disproportionately Black and brown, disproportionately poor, disproportionately young when they were arrested — carry records for the same conduct that now fills dispensary shelves. Every day that passes without those records cleared is another day that the legal cannabis industry profits from a substance while the people punished for that substance continue to suffer the consequences.

The states that have acted with urgency and resources have demonstrated that large-scale expungement is achievable. The states that have not demonstrate only that they have chosen not to prioritize it.

That is a choice. And it deserves to be named as one.