Advocates: Legal marijuana should couple expunged records, resentenced cases

Mar. 20—HARRISBURG — The latest hearing in the Pennsylvania House about recreational marijuana focused on implications for criminal justice with advocates calling on lawmakers to ensure legalization is accompanied by a pathway for resentencing past convictions and expunging criminal records.

Members of the House Health Subcommittee on Health Care and the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Corrections hosted a joint hearing Wednesday about restorative justice — aiding those convicted of nonviolent crimes of small possession of marijuana should legalization become reality in the commonwealth.

Frank Stiefel of the Last Prisoner Project and Sharon Dietrich of Community Legal Services held up Pennsylvania's Clean Slate Law as evidence the commonwealth can take on the challenge.

Citing state data, Dietrich said 45 million records of certain nonviolent criminal offenses have been sealed for more than 1 million people.

Instead of records sealing, however, Stiefel and Dietrich advocate for state-initiated records expungement and resentencing for those currently in prison or under supervision for a crime like simple possession. In the event marijuana is fully legalized — the commonwealth already has a medical program — the crime would no longer exist; neither, they said, should past records and current sentences.

"It's clearly the most serious barrier that not only low-income people but many people experience as a barrier when they're looking for a job," Dietrich said of past arrests.

Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny, said that when Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program was instituted there was nothing to account for needed corrections in the judicial system. She pointed to the issue of persons being charged with driving under the influence of marijuana based on the presence of certain metabolites that can linger long after intoxication wears off.

Rep. Rick Krajewski, D-Philadelphia, said it's necessary to "get this right the first time" for Black and brown communities disproportionately impacted by marijuana arrests along with the working class.

A vote on legalization in the General Assembly doesn't appear on the horizon.

Proposals introduced in the House and Senate last year haven't yet received committee consideration and there's been no new bills on the topic introduced in 2024.

Though Gov. Josh Shapiro called for legalization in his budget address, touting a potential $250 million in annual tax revenue once the industry is settled, budget hearings came and went without any dedicated discussions about legalization.

However, lawmakers have held informational hearings in both chambers and the mix of proposals that have been introduced reflect bipartisan effort.

February's Franklin & Marshall College Poll found that 2 in 3 registered voters believe recreational marijuana should be legal. Five of the six states that border Pennsylvania legalized marijuana with Ohio being the latest.

Bob Troyer, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, testified that tax revenues generated in the past 10 years in Colorado where marijuana is legal fall far behind the societal impacts. He said legalization boosted the underground market in different ways, with marijuana grown commercially and at home being sold to people often coming from states where it remains illegal.

Troyer said Colorado failed to institute a strong regulatory framework when legalization occurred, cautioning Pennsylvania lawmakers not to follow suit.

"Do not leave loopholes, ambiguities in the definition of the responsibilities of the regulators and do not under-resource those regulators because that's where a lot of our issues started," Troyer said.

Chad Bruckner, a former police detective now with the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, advocates for decriminalization. After a career that included undercover drug work, Bruckner said he's changed positions on marijuana — that its potential for good outweighs potential harm.

Bruckner, a military veteran, cited worsening mental and physical health, particularly among first responders and veterans. He said he is a medical marijuana patient and is also recovering from alcohol abuse. Medical marijuana, not beer, has helped him sleep at night and handle the nightmares that might come from past trauma.

"Since I retired in 2021, I almost see the world in a completely different way," Bruckner said, adding that his new mindset changed his approach to advocacy around marijuana laws. "I think cannabis is something that could be decriminalized in Pennsylvania."