ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A report released this week shows the impact marijuana offenses have on the court system and how city ordinances to address decriminalization of the substance have been enforced very differently in the Lehigh Valley’s biggest cites.
By highlighting the issue, Joe Welsh, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Justice Institute, a local nonprofit focused on researching the justice system, hopes to show that the region could be a model in support of decriminalization of marijuana.
- Marijuana offenses made up nearly 20% of all criminal cases in Lehigh and Northampton county courts from 2018 to 2021
- Only 4% of marijuana charges in the counties over that time period included any type of violence
- Individuals can be charged differently in Lehigh or Northampton County for a marijuana offense
“We’ve got problems here. We’ve got kids, you know, 14-year-old kids carrying guns to school,” Welsh said, referencing a September incident at Allentown's William Allen High School.
“We’ve got serious, serious law enforcement problems. Why are we screwing around with something that you can literally walk across the bridge from Easton to Phillipsburg, NJ, and buy? It’s ludicrous. It’s as failed as the alcohol prohibition was.”
The report found a number of surprising statistics. It shows that Black people are more likely to be charged with marijuana offenses, despite national statistics showing African-American and white populations report usage of the drug at the same rate.
Clogging the courts
In fact, it found locally, a third of marijuana cases in Lehigh and Northampton County courts involve Black people, despite the fact that only about 6% of the Lehigh Valley’s population is African-American.
Also, the report noted that efforts to criminalize marijuana in the Lehigh Valley aren’t necessarily addressing violent crime and it argues that the cases overburden the criminal court system.
For example, in looking at Lehigh and Northampton county courts for three years, the institute found only 4% of marijuana charges involved any type of violence. The majority of related charges were minor traffic violations.
This is despite the fact that, the report found, courts were busy prosecuting drug charges, as almost 20% of all criminal cases over that same time involved a marijuana charge.
“We hope to raise awareness," Welsh said in discussing the data. "I frankly was surprised at the number of charges. This is senseless. It is really a bizarre tax on people living in the Lehigh Valley.”
The institute’s study comes on the heels of Gov. Tom Wolf’s move topardon minor marijuana offenses. Welsh said Wolf's effort shows the state’s changing attitude toward marijuana and might help address some local issues as both Allentown and Bethlehem may prosecute the drug differently.
Criminal confusion
In recent years, city councils in Allentown and Bethlehem have passed ordinances aimed at decriminalizing marijuana.
“If we could simply get all of the people involved to respect the will of the people’s representatives in governing bodies, and get other municipalities to pass similar ordinances, we could both shut down the problem that’s clogging the courts and we could send a powerful message.”Joe Welsh, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Justice Institute
But Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin argued the local ordinances don't supersede state law.
“Any place where the state has pre-empted the field, city councils are without any power at all,” Martin said when asked about the issue over the summer.
Yet, when Bethlehem passed its ordinance in 2018, Northampton County’s district attorney at the time, John Morganelli, was willing to follow the wishes of Bethlehem City Council.
Welsh said that set up a system in which Lehigh County follows state guidelines in charging marijuana offenses, while in Bethlehem, often law enforcement officials charge an individual with both local and state penalties and leave it up to a judge to determine the proper charge.
“That should start ringing alarm bells with anybody who understands the United States Constitution," Welsh said. "Because now you are certainly not talking about equal justice under law. What ZIP code I reside in should not determine whether or not I get charged with a crime.”
Start a discussion
Overall, Welsh said he hopes the study opens up discussion of how marijuana crimes are handled throughout the Lehigh Valley, especially as the state has shown a willingness to soften its stance—and even pardon those charged with marijuana offenses—and New Jersey, right across the river, has legalized recreational use of the drug.
“If we could simply get all of the people involved to respect the will of the people’s representatives in governing bodies, and get other municipalities to pass similar ordinances," Welsh said, "We could both shut down the problem that’s clogging the courts and we could send a powerful message.”
