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Pennsylvania State Senate
04/24/2024 06:58 PM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20170&cosponId=25592
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: April 5, 2018 01:49 PM
From: Senator Daylin Leach
To: All Senate members
Subject: Expunging Convictions of Simple Possession for Medical Marijuana Patients
 
Soon I will introduce legislation to expunge the criminal records of any person convicted of simple possession of marijuana if the person was using the marijuana for medical purposes.

As you know, Act 16 of 2016 legalized the use of medical marijuana for the treatment of 17 serious medical conditions. Medical marijuana growers and dispensaries are now operational in Pennsylvania and people are getting the medicine they need. That is great news. However, it is cruel to continue to punish people for using that exact same medicine for those exact same medical conditions prior to the implementation of Act 16.

My bill would allow people to petition the court to expunge a conviction for simple possession of marijuana. For the expungement to be granted, the petitioner would have to prove:
  1. That the incident for which the petitioner was convicted of possession of marijuana occurred prior to February 15, 2018, when legal medical marijuana became available in the Commonwealth;
  2. That on the date of the incident the petitioner was suffering from one of Act 16’s 17 serious medical conditions; and
  3. That the petitioner was using marijuana at the time of the incident for the sole purpose of treating his or her serious medical condition.

This bill will allow people who wanted to do nothing but ease their own suffering to clear their criminal records. Please join me in supporting this important legislation. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Introduced as SB1160