NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano called the Justice Department’s policy change “inappropriate and misguided. … Most Americans say that consuming cannabis should no longer be a crime; they certainly don’t want federal resources directed toward these misplaced priorities.”
“Marijuana-related prosecutions remain the primary driver of drug war enforcement in those states where cannabis remains criminalized, whereas, with few exceptions, marijuana-related arrests fall precipitously in jurisdictions that legalize and regulate the adult-use cannabis market.”
“Time and time again, local lawmakers in marijuana prohibition states are advancing these common sense decriminalization measures when state legislators refuse to take action. Minor marijuana possession offenders, many of them young people, should not be saddled with an arrest, a criminal record, and with the lifelong penalties and stigma associated with it.”
“While the total number of marijuana-related arrests have fallen nationwide in recent years, it is clear that marijuana-related prosecutions still remain a primary driver of drug war enforcement in the United States.”
The ordinance, which took immediate effect, amends county code so that the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana is reduced to a civil violation punishable by no more than a $150 fine.
“Considerable time and resources still remain prioritized toward enforcing the failed policy of federal marijuana prohibition and prosecuting those who violate outdated and ineffective federal cannabis laws.”
Since its inception, the criminalization of the marijuana plant and the stigmatization of those who consume it has been predicated almost entirely upon the promotion of gross exaggerations, racial stereotypes, and outright lies.
Since 2018, nearly 90,000 Pennsylvanians have been arrested for violating state marijuana laws. Over 85 percent of those arrests were for marijuana possession.