The Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (IEJF), announced the launch of New Leaf Illinois, an alliance of 20 organizations to provide free legal and advisory services to help people wipe clean their marijuana convictions.  The new resource was made possible by specific funding requirements of the 2019 Illinois cannabis legalization law.  New Leaf Illinois will help people determine their eligibility for relief through an online portal www.newleafillinois.org.  Legal aid organizations within the New Leaf Illinois Network will provide free services to income-level qualifying individuals in every region in Illinois. In 2019, Illinois legalized cannabis possession and consumption. Most of the estimated 778,000 cannabis convictions in Illinois are eligible for automatic expungement by law enforcement and the pardon process.  The state has outlined a timeline for automatic expungement. But there are an estimated 71,000 criminal records on file that could qualify for expungement that will not be done automatically.  Typically, this is for convictions involving possession of more than 30 grams but less than 500 grams of cannabis. A criminal record can impact one’s financial well-being, job opportunities, educational prospects and other areas of life.