City of Pittsburgh - File #: 2015-2245

• File #: 2015-2245
• Version: 1
• Type: Ordinance
• Status: Passed Finally
• File created: 11/16/2015
• In control: Committee on Public Safety Services
• On agenda: 11/17/2015
• Final action: 12/21/2015
• Enactment date: 12/21/2015
• Enactment #: 62
• Effective date: 12/22/2015
• Title: Ordinance amending Title 6: Conduct, Article 1: Regulated Rights and Actions by adding section 627 providing for the assessment of a civil fine for the possession of small amounts of cannabis in the City of Pittsburgh under certain terms and conditions.
• Sponsors: R. Daniel Lavelle
• Indexes: PGH. CODE ORDINANCES TITLE 06 - CONDUCT

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
12/22/2015	1	Mayor	Signed by the Mayor
12/21/2015	1	City Council	Passed Finally	Pass
12/16/2015	1	Standing Committee	Affirmatively Recommended	Pass
12/16/2015	1	Standing Committee	Affirmatively Recommended	Pass
12/15/2015	1	Committee on Hearings	Public Hearing Held
11/23/2015	1	Standing Committee	Held for Cablecast Public Hearing	Pass
11/17/2015	1	City Council	Read and referred

Title
Ordinance amending Title 6: Conduct, Article 1: Regulated Rights and Actions by adding section 627 providing for the assessment of a civil fine for the possession of small amounts of cannabis in the City of Pittsburgh under certain terms and conditions.

Body
WHEREAS, in Pittsburgh approximately 1,000 individuals are charged with possessing a "small amount" of marijuana, defined as 30 grams or less of marijuana possessed for personal use. Police officers are required to appear for a Court hearing in every case where possession of a "small amount" is charged; and

WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh Police Department and the Office of the District Attorney of Allegheny County have regularly and routinely reduced all "small amount"/minor marijuana possession charges to a summary offense with the payment of a fine; and

WHEREAS, merely being charged with a controlled substances violation can result in the loss of employment and housing opportunities, especially public housing opportunities; and

WHEREAS, a growing number of States and Cities have recently passed laws as it pertains to the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana possessed for non-medical personal use. In 2012 the City of Chicago moved to decriminalize small amounts allowing police to issue tickets instead of making an arrest. In 2014 Washington D.C. passed a similar ordinance providing for a $25.00 fine for possession of a small amount; and

WHEREAS, the expungement procedure is lengthy and financially burdensome. Failure to properly expunge a cannabis possessory offense will result in said offense remaining on a person's criminal history despite the charge having been resolved as a summary; and

WHEREAS, racial minorities in the City of Pittsburgh, predominantly black males, are charged with minor possessory offenses five times more often than their white colleagues despite similar rates of usage; and

WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh Police have limited resources that should not be u...