Dean and Scanlon Vote To Decriminalize Weed
Mary Gay Scanlon and Madeleine Dean both voted in favor of H.R. 3884, a bill known as the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2020 or the MORE Act of 2020.
About half of Lower Merion is in the 4th Congressional District, which is represented by Dean. The other half of Lower Merion is in the 5th Congressional District, which Scanlon represents. All of Narberth is also in the 4th District.
The bill is officially described as follows: To decriminalize and deschedule cannabis, to provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, to provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses, and for other purposes.
I was proud to vote for this long overdue bill today! https://t.co/Sxr00ncnEu
— Mary Gay Scanlon (@marygayscanlon) December 5, 2020
The More Act passed in the House along nearly partisan lines. The total vote was 228 Yeas and 164 Nays. Only five Republicans voted Yea, and only six Democrats voted Nay.
Conor Lamb, a Democrat from Western Pennsylvania was among the six Democrats who broke ranks.
On Friday (December 4) pghcitypaper.com wrote:
Lamb says that while he voted against the bill, he supports decriminalizing marijuana, but criticized the MORE Act as a “small, non-serious bill that wasn’t done the right way and will never be signed into law, regardless of who is President.”
“And everyone knows that,” continued Lamb in a statement. “This was an opportunity for people to say they voted to ‘legalize marijuana’ without doing any of the work to actually accomplish that.”
Decriminalizing marijuana is an important issue that should be taken seriously & done the right way. This isn't the right way.
— Conor Lamb (@ConorLambPA) December 1, 2020
Right now, an American is dying every minute, people are going broke, & nursing homes are still too vulnerable. We should be focused on nothing else.
Two communities in Delaware County have passed ordinances decriminalizing possession of small quantities of marjijuana. In July of 2020, the Inquirer reported that
A measure unanimously approved by the seven-member borough council at a meeting late Monday changes the penalty for carrying less than 30 grams of marijuana or eight grams of hashish from an arrest to a $100 fine, according to Borough Manager Andrew Hayman.
“We believe it was inappropriate for officers to be arresting residents for possession, and giving them criminal records, when a fine would be more appropriate for personal use,” Hayman said Tuesday. “This allows us to allocate resources in other areas.”
Not coincidentally, Hayman lives in Upper Darby (where he is running for Council). In August, Upper Darby passed an ordinance almost identical to Folcroft’s, making the possession of fewer than 30 grams of marijuana or eight grams of hashish – subject to a fine, rather than arrest.