A bipartisan effort is being made in the Pennsylvania Senate to decriminalize cannabis in the Commonwealth.
State Senators Sharif Street and Camera Bartolotta have announced they will reintroduce a bill that will lower small amount of marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to a summary offense.
Currently, if found to be in possession of a small amount of cannabis, a maximum penalty is 30 days in jail, a $500 fine, and six-month license suspension.
Lowering the penalty to a summary offense would eliminate all possible jail time and license suspension. With fines only costing $25 and consumption in public would be $100.
Street a Democrat representing parts of Philadelphia and Bartolotta, a Republican representing parts of Beaver, Washington, and Greene county based the legislation on current ordinances in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Erie.