NEWS

Marley Natural aims to help clear pot convicts' records

Trevor Hughes
USA TODAY
A Marijuana plant awaits judging in the Oregon Cannabis Growers' Fair marijuana plant competition in Salem, Ore., on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. Nine winners will be on display at the Oregon State Fair between Aug. 26 and Sept. 5, 2016, for the first time ever. The Oregon Cannabis Growers' Fair runs through the weekend in Salem, Oregon. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) ORG XMIT: RPGF104

A legal marijuana company carrying on Bob Marley’s legacy is offering to help clear the criminal records of cannabis convicts in Oregon.

Marley Natural, working with the Minority Cannabis Business Association, will pay the legal fees associated with filing for a criminal record expungement in Oregon. Only people with non-violent convictions will be considered, company officials said. Officials said they expect about 30 people will qualify for expungement requests, which can cost several hundred dollars each.

“This is done in the spirit of giving back to communities that have been impacted by the cannabis prohibition,” said Cedella Marley, the singer’s daughter and a famous musician and businesswoman in her own right. “Laws that demonized people who use the herb … do not reflect what my father believed to be true.”

Bob Marley was a longtime advocate of cannabis, which he referred to as “the herb,” and his name and music have long been associated with marijuana users. Cedella Marley, who helped found Marley Natural, said a clean criminal record is often key to a job—and with marijuana now legal in Oregon, people with a criminal record from minor possession crimes should have the same chance.

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