Pennsylvania Police Arrest An Average Of 32 People For Marijuana Possession Every Day, New Data Shows As Lawmakers Weigh Legalization

With Pennsylvania lawmakers under pressure to act on marijuana legalization when they reconvene next week, new data is underscoring the urgency, revealing that more than 12,000 people were arrested for cannabis possession in the Keystone state last year.

Put differently, that means Pennsylvania police make an average of 32 marijuana possession arrests each day, the data from the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and Uniform Crime Reporting System (UCRS) shows.

In 2023, 10,463 adults and 1,578 juveniles were arrested for possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana. And consistent with national enforcement trends, those arrests have disproportionately affected Black residents. While about 75 percent of Pennsylvania’s population is white, Black people accounted for 40 percent of the cannabis arrests.

“I think that the ongoing arrests in Pennsylvania should motivate lawmakers, as it did in other states,” Chris Goldstein, a NORML regional organizer who received a presidential pardon for his own federal cannabis possession case, told Marijuana Moment on Friday.

While more than 80 cities in the state have moved forward with locally decriminalizing or reducing penalties for simple possession, the fact that there are still upwards of 12,000 arrests statewide makes Pennsylvania “stand out” nationally as “having some of the most arrests of any state in America at this point,” Goldstein, who compiled the new enforcement data, said.

But even as Pennsylvania has become an “island of prohibition”—surrounded by states that have enacted adult-use legalization such as Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York—Goldstein says he doesn’t feel the latest push for reform in the legislature will deliver results this session, which he attributes to the ongoing obstinance of certain GOP leadership.

“There are plenty of Democrats who’ve offered well-thought bills over the years, and they just have never gotten anywhere. And there are even some well-thought bills from Republicans over the years that haven’t gone anywhere,” he said. “That’s because the people in leadership positions have simply blocked those bills from moving forward.”

***2023 substance possession arrests*** CTD
JUVENILES:
– 1,578 people = Marijuana
– 34 people = Cocaine + Opiates
– 30 people = Synthetics
– 251 people = “Other” pic.twitter.com/8rwWyXNLGb

— Chris Goldstein (@freedomisgreen) September 25, 2024

Earlier this month, Reps. Aaron Kaufer (R) and Emily Kinkead (D) formally introduced a bipartisan marijuana legalization bill, alongside 15 other cosponsors.

In July, the governor of Pennsylvania said the administration and lawmakers would “come back and continue to fight” for marijuana legalization and other policy priorities that were omitted from budget legislation he signed into law that month.

When the Pennsylvania legislature approved the budget bill that Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) enacted, lawmakers also accidentally left medical marijuana dispensaries out of a section providing tax relief for the cannabis industry. And it hasn’t been clear whether the omission could be fixed without future legislative action.

What happens after the legislature reconvenes for the remainder of the session next week is uncertain. But a poll released this week found that strong majorities of Pennsylvania voters in five key tossup districts are in favor of legalizing marijuana in the state—and they want to see lawmakers enact the reform imminently.

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

At a press briefing in July, the chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus seemed to temper expectations about the potential timeline of passing legalization legislation, pointing out that the rest of the session will likely be too politically charged heading into the November election to get the job done this year.

Other lawmakers have emphasized the urgency of legalizing as soon as possible given regional dynamics, while signaling that legislators are close to aligning House and Senate proposals.

Meanwhile, a report commissioned by activists projected that Pennsylvania would see up to $2.8 billion in adult-use marijuana sales in the first year of implementing legalization, generate as much as $720 million in tax revenue and create upwards of 45,000 jobs.

Sens. Sharif Street (D) and Dan Laughlin (R) also participated in an X Spaces event in June where they said the votes are there to pass a marijuana legalization bill as soon as this year, though they stressed that the governor needs to work across the aisle to get the job done—and argued that it would be helpful if the federal government implemented its proposed cannabis rescheduling rule sooner rather than later.

Street was also among advocates and lawmakers who participated in a cannabis rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in June, where there was a significant emphasis on the need to incorporate social equity provisions as they move to advance legalization.

Laughlin, for his part, also said an event in May that the state is “getting close” to legalizing marijuana, but the job will only get done if House and Senate leaders sit down with the governor and “work it out.”

Warren County, Pennsylvania District Attorney Robert Greene, a registered medical cannabis patient in the state, filed a lawsuit in federal court in January seeking to overturn a ban preventing medical marijuana patients from buying and possessing firearms.

Two Pennsylvania House panels held a joint hearing to discuss marijuana legalization in April, with multiple lawmakers asking the state’s top liquor regulator about the prospect of having that agency run cannabis shops.

Also in April, members of the House Health Committee had a conversation centered on social justice and equity considerations for reform.

At a prior meeting in March, members focused on criminal justice implications of prohibition and the potential benefits of reform.

At another hearing in February, members looked at the industry perspective, with multiple stakeholders from cannabis growing, dispensing and testing businesses, as well as clinical registrants, testifying.

At the subcommittee’s previous cannabis meeting in December, members heard testimony and asked questions about various elements of marijuana oversight, including promoting social equity and business opportunities, laboratory testing and public versus private operation of a state-legal cannabis industry.

And during the panel’s first meeting late last year, Frankel said that state-run stores are “certainly an option” he’s considering for Pennsylvania, similar to what New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) recommended for that state last year, though a state commission later shied away from that plan.

Last year, Shapiro signed a bill to allow all licensed medical marijuana grower-processors in the state to sell their cannabis products directly to patients.

Separately, Pennsylvania’s prior governor separately signed a bill into law in July 2022 that included provisions to protect banks and insurers in the state that work with licensed medical marijuana businesses.

Looking beyond Pennsylvania, newly released FBI data on national trends shows that, even as more states continue to legalize marijuana, at least 200,000 people were arrested over cannabis in 2023—and simple possession again made up the vast majority of those cases.

GOP Senator Files Bill To Triple THC Cap For Hemp As Lawmakers Weigh Competing Cannabis Regulatory Proposals