What Happened With Pennsylvania’s Cannabis Pardon Project?

Back in September, we worked with City Cast Philly to dig into Pennsylvania’s “Marijuana Pardon Project.” The program offered a limited window for people with non-violent cannabis convictions to apply for clemency. But those charges generally come compounded with a slew of other ones. 

So we asked, realistically,how many people are actually going to benefit? 🎧

The program had the potential to help a few thousand Pennsylvanians, but it came up short. Way short. Last week, the Board of Pardons voted to advance just 231 applications. There were roughly 2,600 total individuals who applied for clemency. That included 212 applications from Allegheny County, but not one was eligible for a pardon. No one in Allegheny County was convicted of a standalone “small amount” charge without a paraphernalia charge.

“About the only way to avoid that would be to have the flower or material in your hand, it weighs less than 30 grams, and there was absolutely nothing in your possession that would allow you either to package it, consume it, or transport it,” criminal defense attorneyPatrick Nightingale told City Cast Pittsburgh. “Paraphernalia under Pennsylvania law is so broadly defined that just about anything can be construed as paraphernalia.

”Pittsburgh City Paper asked the secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons Celeste Trusty why the Board of Pardons intentionally excluded paraphernalia; she declined to say why.