Pennsylvania Capital

Kumar Appaiah

Pennsylvania Decriminalization Bill Passes Committee

A bill to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis has passed the Pennsylvania state House Judiciary Committee, CBS reports.

The bill changes the penalties for those caught with under 30 grams of cannabis. Currently, such possession is a low-grade misdemeanor that would be a nearly permanent fixture on someone’s criminal record. The decriminalization bill would change that penalty to a summary offense similar to a traffic ticket, which carries a fine of up to $300.

The next milestone for the bill will be passing the state House and Senate. The good news is that — if the bill reaches Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) desk to be signed or vetoed — Gov. Wolf has previously come out in favor of decriminalizing cannabis on Twitter.

Both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania have decriminalized possession within city limits — Philadelphia in 2014 and Pittsburgh in 2015. Through 2017, cannabis arrests in Philadelphia declined 75 percent.

Get daily cannabis business news updates. Subscribe

Have an additional perspective to share? Send us a message to let us know, and if your comment is chosen by our editors it could be featured here.

End


Ganjapreneur is made possible by our partners:

Latest Cannabis News

View all news Get email updates

Featured Business Profiles

Create a profile View all categories

From Our Partners