FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2/5/2024
Lehigh Valley NORML - Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
Contact: Jeff Riedy 610-533-0906, lehighvnorml@gmail.com
Pennsylvania cannabis prohibition arrests continue despite large industry
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Jeff Riedy, Executive Director of Lehigh Valley NORML said, “Ongoing mass arrests in Pennsylvania on the premise of marijuana prohibition represent a pressing issue of public health, one that should be immediately addressed by the General Assembly ahead of any stargazing into profits and taxes.”
Surrounding states like New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware and Ohio have all completely stopped similar arrests. Some states decriminalized cannabis possession before completing the years-long process of regulating sales to adults.
“We deserve some tangible justice and the very first step should be an immediate stop to all low-level cannabis arrests in Pennsylvania,” said Riedy. “Decriminalization would be an easy lift for legislators, requiring no regulatory structure or market controls, only educating law enforcement of the change.”
Today, the Pa. House Health Committee is holding yet another information hearing on the future of cannabis profits and taxes. While these conversations in Harrisburg are encouraging, NORML would prefer inclusion of more testimony from the grassroots. The opinions of industry experts, who are vying to gain more of a financial foothold in the Keystone State, do not represent the millions of consumers and patients.
There are more than 160 dispensaries run by about thirty companies that serve nearly one million registered patients in our state. Reliable access took years to sort out.
Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana was extremely expensive until John Collins, the former Pa. Department of Health program director, revealed consistent price-gouging. They’ve gone down since that data went public.
Collins enacted several rounds of product recalls, one of the largest was on vape cartridges. Safety concerns were largely ignored while the corporate lawyers aggressively fought the recalls in court.
Several bills favorable to the corporate medical cannabis industry have been passed in Harrisburg and signed by Governor Tom Wolf and Governor Josh Shapiro in recent years. These included rolling back medical marijuana lab testing standards, and giving a massive tax break to some international corporations.
However, bills that would downgrade possession or even fully regulate cannabis haven't been considered, even for committee-level votes.
“Decriminalization would seem an effective option to pass immediately,” said Riedy, “The goal is to simply stop all police interactions over cannabis possession, just like surrounding states. There has been consistent bipartisan support on bills to downgrade these offenses. When you consider the human cost to those arrested, convicted or even harassed by the police over small amounts of marijuana there should be no delay to addressing this issue.”
Pennsylvania taxpayers may be spending more than $100 million each year to maintain current criminal prohibitions on cannabis. The costs of law enforcement, courts, and supervision have been rising in the Commonwealth even as thousands of low-level arrests continue.
“I urge legislators to lead with justice and stop cannabis arrests today,” said NORML’s Jeff Riedy.
Contact: 610-533-0906, lehighvnorml@gmail.com
Municipal marijuana decriminalization and penalty downgrade ordinances in Pennsylvania: https://norml.org/laws/local-
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