Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced a large-scale initiative to pardon those convicted for certain marijuana offenses.
People will be able to apply for a pardon this month if they were convicted for one of two crimes: possession of marijuana or personal use of cannabis under 30 grams, if they have no other criminal convictions.
“I am committed to doing everything in my power to support Pennsylvanians who have been adversely affected by a minor marijuana offense on their record,” Mr. Wolf, a Democrat, said in a Thursday statement announcing the pardon program.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat who is running in November for the Senate seat opened by the retirement of Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, said in the statement: “Nobody should be turned down for a job, housing or volunteering at your child’s school because of some old nonviolent weed charge.”
Mr. Wolf and Mr. Fetterman are working with the state Board of Pardons to implement the project.
“The majority of people of Pennsylvania, it was found, support legalization for marijuana and disagree that this should be an actual crime. So we’re trying to do everything we can to really support second chances for people who are burdened with a criminal conviction,” Pennsylvania Board of Pardons Secretary Celeste Trusty told KDKA-TV, a Pittsburgh CBS affiliate.
But Patrick Nightingale, a lawyer and marijuana advocate, told the Pittsburgh City Paper that he questioned the limits of the program, as it doesn’t include convictions for having drug paraphernalia.
“It has been my experience in surrounding counties that paraphernalia is routinely charged when one is charged with a small amount — smoking devices, grinders, rolling papers, blunt wrappers. Even the baggie containing the small amount is considered paraphernalia under Pennsylvania law,” Mr. Nightingale told the Pittsburgh City Paper.
