Alaska bill eases pre-2015 convictions for marijuana

San Francisco, April 16 (IANS) Alaskan authorities have passed a bill that will give better job opportunities to people who were convicted of marijuana possession before it was legalised in the US state in 2015.

The bill, passed on Sunday, will bar the public from accessing records of people charged with simple possession of marijuana, Xinhua news agency reported.

The bill, if cleared, will not expunge any marijuana possession conviction, but only seal it from the public, thus removing barriers for those who "made mistakes" in possessing marijuana in the past to look for better jobs.

Alaska became the third US state to legalise recreational marijuana on February 24, 2015, which allowed Alaskans aged 21 or older to buy and possess marijuana.