Legalizing weed in Pennsylvania

Most of Pennsylvania’s largest cities have passed ordinances decriminalizing marijuana. And officially, penalties for possessing small amounts are like traffic tickets, with typical fines running from $25 to $500.

“But we’re still arresting more people than we did 10 years ago,” said Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. “It’s lunacy.”

The testimony given was about espousing their instituting automatic and retroactive mass expungement of cannabis convictions. Keeping the state’s “white cartel” of medical marijuana firms’. Executives from taking over the recreational market.

Though many cities have decriminalized marijuana since 2015, the number of arrests remains high throughout the state. Arrests fell about 11% in 2019, but totals were still greater than 2014, before "decrim" efforts took hold.,

At a West Philadelphia hearing, state lawmakers, who are working on a recreational marijuana legalization bill.

What was discussed was the impact of cannabis criminalization on communities of color.

“It’s because police in many of those cities don’t follow the decriminalization statutes,” said Patrick Nightingale, a cannabis law attorney and advocate in Pittsburgh. “The statutes are not binding on police or the District Attorney’s Offices. They’re voluntary. Police can still make arrests at their discretion.”

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