Possessing small amounts of marijuana will remain a misdemeanor in Easton following a city council vote Wednesday night.
In a 3-3 vote with one abstention, Easton City Council voted “no” to an ordinance that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. The proposal, brought forth by Councilman Frank Pintabone, would treat possession of a small amount of marijuana as a summary offense rather than a misdemeanor.
Under Pennsylvania law, when someone is caught with a small amount of marijuana (less than 30 grams of marijuana or 8 grams of hashish), they face a misdemeanor charge. Upon conviction, the penalty is a fine of up to $500 and/or 30 days in jail.
Additionally, the conviction remains on their record. Pintabone said this could negatively impact future employment, housing, and licensing opportunities.
In his proposal, if someone is caught with a small amount of marijuana, the fine would be $25 for the first offense, $35 for the second offense, and $45 for the third.
Should someone be caught smoking it, the fine would be $150 for the first offense, $250 for the second and $300 for the third. After the third offense, it would move up to the Northampton County Court.
Pintabone said raising the fines would act as a deterrent, preventing residents from committing the crime.
Council members Rodger Ruggles, Mayor Sal Panto Jr., and Ken Brown voted no, while Pintabone, Crystal Rose, and James Edinger voted yes.
Taiba Sultana chose to abstain. She said a concern was brought to her attention, and she requested to table the ordinance so she could investigate the concern.
“I can get behind this if our state legislators get behind it,” Brown said during discussions.
Panto and Ruggles took the same opinion, stating that they believe the issue is a state-level matter. While supporting the ordinance’s intent, they were hesitant to pass an ordinance that contradicted state law.
“Everybody up here took an oath to uphold the laws of this Commonwealth, and it’s my opinion that by doing this, we are not upholding that specific law of the Commonwealth that says marijuana possession is a misdemeanor,” Ruggles said.
He added that Easton police officers took the same oath. If there are two separate laws on the matter, he said it may lead to confusion on how to enforce it.
Pintabone said he spoke to over a dozen police officers who would be in support of the ordinance.
“They said it would save them a lot more time on paperwork and to get back to normal business, including ones who said sometimes they overlook it because the process is too hard,” he said.
Chief Carl Scalzo previously said a local policy contradicting state law could confuse officers and lead to inconsistent enforcement.
“We have ordinances, and ordinances are typically utilized to address areas and communities such as ours that aren’t addressed under federal or state statute,” Scalzo said at a previous meeting. “But in this instance, that’s not what this is. This is actually something that’s already addressed under state statute. If we want to change something in the state of Pennsylvania that’s already addressed in law, then that argument should be made, and then go through that process of changing that law.”
City Solicitor Joel Scheer said the ordinance could be reintroduced once Sultana is comfortable voting on it.
“I am not against the intent of this ordinance,” Panto said. “We are a commonwealth, not a state, so we are products of the state, and we are sworn to do what they say to do.”
Chelsea Kun can be reached at ckun@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Instagram at @chelsealehighvalley.
Council members who voted no said they are in support of the ordinance’s intent, but it would conflict with state laws. Read More
