Doylestown Approves Advertisement Of Marijuana Ordinance

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Doylestown Borough would become the latest Pennsylvania municipality to reduce the maximum penalties for marijuana possession under a proposed ordinance that could be voted on as early as April.

Borough council voted 8-1 at its Monday meeting to advertise an ordinance addressing the handling of minor nonviolent possession or personal use of a small amount of marijuana. The ordinance, which is modeled after Norristown Borough's policy, would direct the Central Bucks Regional Police Department to issue a non summary violation when a person is arrested in the borough for marijuana possession under 30 grams, which is currently a misdemeanor under state law.

"My feeling is we're not a state legislature," council member Joseph Flood said before casting the only dissenting vote.

Under the ordinance, a first and second offense would result in a $25 fine, and a third offense would generate a $75 fine. A fourth strike in a five-year span would result in a misdemeanor charge.

While the ordinance has the backing of Central Bucks Regional Police Chief Karl Knott, it does not have the support of the Republican Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub, who argued that state and federal law trump any municipal ordinance that gets passed.

"You could direct Chief Knott to deprioritize arrests for marijuana possession, but I don't think a local council is legally able to truly decriminalize something that has been made criminal by state and federal law," he said.

Instead, police departments and law enforcement agencies should be allowed to use their own prosecutorial discretion, Weintraub said.

"We at the DA's office divert 100 percent of Bucks County citizens who are arrested for possession of marijuana into a treatment diversionary program," and if they complete the program, the charge is expunged from their record.

Weintraub said that if the borough passed its ordinance, that door to treatment would be closed to borough residents.

"Decriminalization is not the path to treatment," he said.

Related: Doylestown Borough Considers Relaxing Marijuana Enforcement

Diane Rosati, who heads the Bucks County Drug Alcohol Commission, said the council should consider the unintended consequences of marijuana decriminalization.

"The perception of risk is already low," she said. "With potential decriminalization, they wouldn't see that early intervention service."

The ordinance has the backing of Mayor Ron Strouse, who said such harsh penalties inflict unjust harm on poorer people and minorities. Council member Noni West, who is running to replace Strouse in the November election, expressed a similar sentiment.

"We don't want to be giving records for what is a small amount of marijuana," she said. "That's where my impetus comes in supporting this."

Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman have both publicly supported marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, which they say would generate much-needed revenue for the state.

Borough council can vote on the ordinance at its April meeting.

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