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Council votes to discuss marijuana penalties

Mary jane

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STATE COLLEGE — Following a public hearing on May 2, State College Borough council unanimously voted to further discuss a proposed ordinance that would change how the borough and police department handle marijuana offenses.

The ordinance would allow for police to issue a non-traffic citation to individuals found in possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana or 8 grams or less of hashish. According to the ordinance draft, police could issue a $250 fine to individuals found in possession of small amounts of marijuana and a $350 fine to individuals found smoking in public. That is similar to the fine given for open container violations.

Currently under state law, which the borough operates under, 30 grams of marijuana or 8 grams of hashish is considered a small amount of marijuana. The penalty is a misdemeanor that could include a fine not exceeding $500 and no more than 30 days imprisonment.

King said that first-time offenders in State College are generally mandated to Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, a one-year probation program that allows individuals to file for expungement after a year if they are not charged with another violation in that time.

Andy Shubin, a criminal defense attorney based in State College, said individuals who plead guilty to a marijuana conviction during ARD have to wait five years for their records to be expunged.

Conviction for a marijuana violation can be a lifetime of punishment. If you look at an application for employment there is a box for if you were ever convicted of a crime,” said former council member Peter Morris.

Morris and most people who spoke at the hearing were in favor of an ordinance that would make marijuana possession a summary offense.

Luis Rolfo, a Penn State senior, first proposed the idea to council on March 14. At this meeting, he said that a drug conviction risks a student’s eligibility to receive federal student aid.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, a federal or state drug conviction can disqualify a student for FASFA funds. State College Police Chief Tom King clarified that the ARD program mandated to first-time offenders is not considered a conviction.

King said there is the possibility that under the proposed ordinance there would be no mechanism for a person’s record to be expunged.

With ARD, we know you can get your record expunged so it won’t affect student aid, but we should make sure we know there is not an unintended consequences with this ordinance,” King said.

The borough is still in the process of researching other aspects of the ordinance and recommended that some of the language in the ordinance be altered before council takes action, he added.

One of these aspects that King discussed was how the ordinance would be enforced on Penn State campus. Based on statutory law, the two borough magisterial district judges have told borough staff that Penn State Police are authorized but not required to enforce borough ordinances on campus property located in State College, he said.

In 2015, the university charged 178 people with possession of small amounts of marijuana. Meanwhile, State College saw 33 similar cases.

Of those 33 cases, 16 were charged with one or more additional misdemeanor chargers, which automatically would have made those people ineligible for the borough ordinance. Of the remaining 17, four violations occurred in College and Harris townships, meaning the ordinance would not have applied either. That would have left 13 people who police could have considered for the proposed ordinance.

King said that a majority of individuals charged with small amounts of marijuana are found with a device to use the substance with. However, the current proposed ordinance does not include drug paraphernalia, which in itself would be considered a misdemeanor.

King recommended that the ordinance also clarify that synthetic marijuana and marijuana are not included and that the ordinance not extend to juveniles. The juvenile system is designed to be rehabilitative and not punitive, he said. “I believe we have a good system.”

This ordinance is obviously flawed, but one thing we can agree on is moving forward in a way that is progressive,” Rolfo said. “I believe we should work together to make an ordinance that works for State College.”

A future date to further discuss the ordinance at either a meeting or work session was not set during the meeting.