The arrests of people with less than 1 ounce of weed in Pennsylvania represent 45 percent. The amount of weed would be legal in the majority of surrounding states.
By Chris Goldstein, NORML
The Pennsylvania Capitol is doing a slow dance with Mary Jane. The debate over the legalization and regulation of recreational cannabis is taking years, even though some legislators say that the reform “is inevitable.”
Neighboring states—Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Maryland—now surround the Pennsylvania’s island of prohibition. The excruciating delays are causing justice to be left behind.
Pennsylvania continues to arrest 32 people daily for marijuana, even as everyone awaits reform. The arrest of every single person is a life that has been thrown off course because of weed.
Also, huge budget savings is completely ignored. Pennsylvania taxpayers likely spent over $1 billion in just the past decade to keep criminal cannabis prohibition.
Most enforcement does not target serious cartels, or foreign ones. Tens of thousands local arrests are made in the state because of all that money. According to the Uniform Crime Reporting System (UCR), I have reviewed data for more than a decade.
In Pennsylvania, 45 percent of arrests for substance possession are made against people who have less than an ounce of marijuana. This amount is perfectly legal in many states.
Between 2013 and 2023, 189.504 adult arrests were made in Pennsylvania for possessing a few grams cannabis.
In the same time period, the number of arrests in the state was significantly lower. You can find out more about us by clicking here. dangerous substances.
In the case of adults, there are 106,353 arrests in heroin, cocaine, and opiates.
Important note regarding the UCR: No one was involved in any other serious crimes. The UCR data shows that no one in the drug possession statistics had a gun and nobody was involved with DUI.
In Pennsylvania, half of the “drug warfare” is waged on cannabis users. Stopping possession arrests could balance budgets even before taxes and profits from full legalization become apparent.
Many states have decided not to arrest consumers for years, even before products are regulated. This saves time and money for our whole system.
Philadelphia City Council passed an ordinance in 2014 that decriminalized cannabis. The change allows police to use civil citations instead of handcuffs.
The city’s arrests of weed decreased by over 72 percent after the implementation and never rose. With the change, Philly’s budgets were redirected and millions of dollars saved.
Decriminalization also led to a decline in the number of marijuana-related treatment admissions. In Philadelphia, this figure fell by almost 80 percent. Most of the referrals came from courts. Instead, these vital treatment resources were used quickly for alcoholism and drug addiction.
Pittsburgh, Harrisburg State College, Erie, and over 85 other cities also reduced marijuana penalties at some point. Across the state, arrests of people caught with a few grams are nearly as common as those for marijuana possession. You can find out more about it here. Other substances can be combined.
Pennsylvania areas that did not have a downgraded local ordinance were in fact more dangerous to cannabis users.
Dave Sunday was the York County district attorney when marijuana seemed to dominate. He is now the attorney general of his state.
The Sunday tenure from 2019 to 2023 has seen more than Two-fold The number of arrests for marijuana in York County (5,658) is higher than the total for other substances (2,649).
As an invited guest, Sunday has testified in Harrisburg at various hearings in the past about legalizing cannabis in its entirety. His record shows that he’s no reformer.
More than 70% of the juveniles in York County who were caught with small quantities of cannabis under his guidance, went to court. The cost to taxpayers of the order for probation and supervision is actually higher.
Dutzende states have stopped these wasteful practices. New Jersey has stopped all arrests for small amounts of weed in New York, Delaware and Maryland.
In addition, these neighboring States now restrict the sales of marijuana for adults over 21.
Reforming laws is driven by the need to eliminate racial discrimination in their enforcement. In comparison to many other crimes, the cannabis prohibition is enforced most severely in communities of colour.
The Pennsylvania Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup published a report in 2022 that found enforcement disparities persist despite local decriminalization laws.
State Epidemiological Results Workgroup
The Keystone State may appear to be late in joining the inevitable THC celebration. In Pennsylvania, 150 million dollars worth of legal marijuana is sold every month. The Department of Health, a division of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, has approved every gram.
Nearly half a million residents have registered for the medical marijuana program in Pennsylvania, and its sales continue to grow. Pennsylvania has operated a thriving industry in the background for several years.
The majority of operating permits belong to large multi-state cannabis medical corporations. The industry has been able to benefit from the efforts of legislators, as well-paid lobbyists work together each session.
Bills were passed that included everything from a relaxation of product safety tests to generous tax incentives. They were swiftly passed by both parties. All are on board.
Democrats and Republicans offer a wide range of plans to the future, from small business equity to state run stores. The goal won’t be achieved if we continue to ignore the problem or the costs associated with prohibition.
Data from the police cannot tell us how many Republicans or Democrats were arrested for marijuana. In my opinion, the numbers are about the same.
Stop arresting cannabis consumers as the first step to a regulated market.
Chris Goldstein, a New Jersey-based writer and journalist. Since the late 1990s, Chris Goldstein has been a cannabis activist. He is a regional volunteer organizer for NORML New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Chris wrote Philadelphia’s historic ordinance in 2014 decriminalizing marijuana, and he was granted a presidential pardon for federal possession of marijuana by the President 2024.
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