CHICAGO (AP) – Thousands of people in Illinois convicted of low-level marijuana charges are starting the new year with clean records after Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued more than 9,100 pardons.

At the same time, the Illinois State Police expunged nearly a half-million cannabis-related arrests.

The expungement process is part of a state law that legalized the licensed sales of marijuana that began in 2020 and reduce the impact of drug laws that Pritzker said in a statement were “disproportionately shouldered by communities of color.” ”

By expunging so many arrest records, the state police completed its part of automatic expungement process four years early.