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discogeek t1_iz0ogc1 wrote

First, not sure why we need an application process for this. State government knows who exactly is convicted of marijuana possession, yet they're making people be proactive in a situation where there's no solid reason to do so. I mean, unless there's someone out there who would rather *not* have this removed from their record.

Second, the article is click-bait. the headline states 90% are rejected precisely to piss you off, but if you read the article they state "Although the reasons for so many being denied remain largely unknown..." As in (and I'd suspect) a ton of applications "I murdered my neighbor while smoking pot so I should be pardoned" which doesn't fly.

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Extra-Permission-431 t1_iz0vrdi wrote

90% are rejected because it must only be a charge indicating a small amount of pot. If at all the individual was charged with small pot charge coupled with a paraphernalia charge, they are automatically denied. Which inevitably happens 9/10 times because a plastic bag containing pot is considered paraphernalia. We need to get with the times. It's not a scheduled one narcotic. It is NOT worse than coke or meth.

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victorix58 t1_iz27wek wrote

As as a criminal defense attorney, I have NEVER seen a small amount of marijuana that wasn't charged with drug paraphernalia.

If they rejected pardons because it has to be separate from this, I'm surprised the pardons were granted in 10% of cases.

Wolf sucks.

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Extra-Permission-431 t1_iz2cved wrote

I agree. Who would carrying it in their pocket without a bag or without a smoking tool? They would probably charge your pocket as paraphernalia for that matter haha. Thank you for your professional advice and comment. Wolf certainly does suck. He makes it seem like he wants to help people out, but does the opposite.

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uraniumstingray t1_iz2dolc wrote

“Yeah this is my weed pocket I just keep my loose weed in here because a bag is paraphernalia I fill it up every morning when I put my pants on”

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irishgambin0 t1_iz2lmin wrote

i waa going to say, i know countless people who were caught with weed and every single one of them get a paraphanelia charge along with the possession charge.

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FHatzor t1_iz33u33 wrote

Yea, and another charge if they used a cell phone to call their dealer, and another charge if they drove with friends to the pickup, and another charge if they were near a park, school or church, and another charge if, and if, and if... ad fucking nauseam.

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_jeremybearimy_ t1_iz104i0 wrote

Good news, last I heard a few months ago the Biden administration had started the process to re-schedule it federally.

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Extra-Permission-431 t1_iz10hd3 wrote

I'll believe it when I see it. A lot of politicians have said a lot of things about reducing restrictions to pot. Also, the federal government takes FOREVER to get anything done. So, even if this happens, it will take years and years. Hopefully not though.

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irishgambin0 t1_iz2m265 wrote

same. they did a temporary rescheduling of cannabis a few years back, and that expired recently. so they renewed it again, while putting out statements of permanent rescheduling since the first temporary reschedule. so i'll believe it when i see it.

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Expandexplorelive t1_iz47702 wrote

Temporary rescheduling? Where did you see that?

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irishgambin0 t1_iz4gm5m wrote

my mistake, i think it's fentanyl that got temporarily rescheduled. i'm always "weighing" drug scheduling vs. marijuana and fentanyl. and let's just say i smoked a little marijuana yesterday and got them mixed up.

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little_brown_bat t1_iz3hhuz wrote

Yep, then while it's still in limbo, the next politician to hold the office undoes what the previous one did. Same thing apparently happens with projects at NASA, so nothing ever gets accomplished.

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djarvis77 t1_iz0vb97 wrote

> As in (and I'd suspect) a ton of applications "I murdered my neighbor while smoking pot so I should be pardoned" which doesn't fly.

Lol, murder. Come on. More like as in (and this was from another article on it) the weed conviction was paired with "Paraphernalia" or a host of any other, lesser, but not pardonable charges.

The thing is, many of the weed busts get pleaded down to the lesser charges in the first place. So people could be sending those in as well. The paraphernalia charge is a big one though, since weed smoking is often paired with some device or another.

You make a great point about the application process, for sure.

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rcher87 t1_iz10nke wrote

To your final point - there could also be really dumb procedural reasons that are easily rectified that got someone rejected.

eg - you filed it without signing the third-to-last page, so once your lawyer sees that, sign it and resubmit and you’re fine.

I’m hoping for that one - like ballots/fixing ballots.

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psu3312 t1_iz1jr3q wrote

There is an application process because like anything else, they want $$$ from you in order to remove it from your record. "processing fee"

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ScienceWasLove t1_iz23g3p wrote

Aren’t some of the rejections because people have plead down higher charges (like dealing) to lesser charges, like possession?

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SucksToYourAssmar3 t1_iz0johr wrote

But if we pardon them we have to 1 admit that it was a racist cash grab from the beginning 2 take money away from our partners in the law enforcement and private prison industry.

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CityOfChamps09 t1_iz0kr4b wrote

Not really. We can just do it.

But, the board that rejected the 90% is part of the corrupt ass prison system so of course they are going to rule against letting these people free or out from under their bullshit charges.

We should have created an independent board or council to review these cases, not some board that's already a cog in the state prison system.

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SucksToYourAssmar3 t1_iz0l6v5 wrote

...which is an elaboration on what I said. lol

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CityOfChamps09 t1_iz0lds3 wrote

Sure is, just having a discussion. It sucks that we're still talking about this shit in 2022.

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hedgerow_hank t1_iz0m9dz wrote

Exactly. Screw this noise. Legalize marijuana nationally NOW. Put an end to 60 years of bullshit.

If it's OKAY for big pharma to sell pot ("medical marijuana") then it's okay for regular shopkeepers to sell THE SAME FUCKING PRODUCT.

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AgentInCommand t1_iz0qx1q wrote

I'm all for legalization, but that's a bad argument for it. There are plenty of products that are regulated and sold by one industry or another (yes, including pharma) that shouldn't be sold by any random storefront.

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hedgerow_hank t1_iz9db3l wrote

> but that's a bad argument for it

Really? Do you think marijuana will be "randomly" sold in storefronts?

Please, tell tell me more of your marketing and licensing expertise. You can use the alcohol industry if you so desire. That would be a good one.

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EngelSterben t1_iz0oz2x wrote

>Although the reasons for so many being denied remain largely unknown, speculation suggests that technical issues with submissions and criminal records omitted from the application may be to blame for why a majority of applicants were denied

So, instead we're going to put out an article completely based on speculation

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pwnedkiller t1_iz10u5o wrote

This state is run by people out overly outdated ideals

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Pizzaville87 t1_iz0prsj wrote

This state is 100% corrupt.

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SmokeChaser426 t1_iz0vuze wrote

With the Republicons in power they were, now with the Dems it should move towards a more normal listen to the voters state Just a thought

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Pizzaville87 t1_iz1b0sg wrote

There is no difference real meaningful difference between the parties. They both are control by banks. The difference they have ppl arguing over are just distractions.

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pedantic_comments t1_iz1d6zs wrote

If it seems like the two parties are the same to you, I humbly submit that you have the political wherewithal of an idiot.

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DylanBob1991 t1_iz1dzef wrote

The last leader of the Republicans just said we should throw out the constitution and the year before he stoked a violent insurrection to illegally stay in power. And the vast majority of his party encouraged and protected him.

Let me know which democrat leaders are on that level because I'm unaware of them.

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LowNo5584 t1_iz0wxbc wrote

It's a bit piece based on biased speculation. The only facts given are the numbers. Find out why so many were denied, then report again.

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SmokeChaser426 t1_iz0vnff wrote

Mostly because of the Super Right Republicons in the PA legislatior which will be replaced by the Democrats who are much more reasonable and realistic in their governing. Good riddance to the Goose stepping Brown shirts. Maybe PA will finally listen to the voters instead of the Power brokers Just a thought

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OutrageForSale t1_iz3487o wrote

I imagine many were rejected due to incomplete paperwork. I drove to the courthouse in the county where I was arrested (2.5 hours away) twice to get all the necessary copies of documents. In the end, I never sent the pardon request to the board.

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Besthookerintown t1_iz4zxia wrote

It was almost impossible for me to get all the documents they required. I’m out of state and had to mail them 5 times and probably spent multiple days tracking down documents. I almost gave up multiple times.

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DirtyHippyBastard t1_iz176d2 wrote

The industrial prison operation will not be threatened by the desire to treat the people fairly. Lock up these dangerous people so the children can be safe from communism.

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Worth-Cantaloupe-958 t1_iz0pisd wrote

We can see that the control party care nothing about the people and everything about the corporations. Smh

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ExPatWharfRat t1_iz0q7nc wrote

90% seems like a lot. What was the reason given? Or do they even need to offer one?

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Latter-Pollution-474 t1_iz30ygi wrote

poor pot heads, howd did earth ever survive the last 9 billion years while it was illegal

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Besthookerintown t1_iz6n938 wrote

How shitty of you. I was charged with two felonies for having an ounce of weed in college. The second charge was that I purchased it somewhere else and delivered it back to my house. It was $60 of brick weed. Never read my rights, threatened with ten years in jail if I didn’t plead guilty. You think an 18 year old with $60 of weed should be a double felon?

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Latter-Pollution-474 t1_izc27nc wrote

read above/life existed and went on while it was illegal. people now just be like "oh, now i have a easier shot at getting some" as am 100% sure this "reason" is being abused somewhere

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Steelplate7 t1_iz250j8 wrote

Keep voting Republican…

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victorix58 t1_iz28r85 wrote

Democratic governor fucked this up....

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commanderfish t1_iz2dvr6 wrote

Go read how laws are made

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victorix58 t1_iz2e3ee wrote

You have no idea what you are talking about.

Governor has pardon power. The pardon program was entirely within the governor's control. It was his project and not passed by the legislator.

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commanderfish t1_iz2ekaa wrote

If you want this fixed you need to pass laws legalizing and creating a legitimate program for clearing the crimes in bulk. For decades Republicans have blocked any real progress. In NJ the legalization laws includes this process as has many other states. The governor can't make money appear to do this correctly, the legislature has to do that. Republicans have controlled the house and Senate since 2011

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victorix58 t1_iz2j06k wrote

I see we're changing the subject.

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commanderfish t1_iz2lpug wrote

The governor isn't personally reviewing all these cases

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victorix58 t1_iz34s4v wrote

He set up the expedited pardon review board to review this and gave them the standards to decide which cases to recommend he pardon.

The governor sure is responsible for this.

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downonthesecond t1_iz0s8lz wrote

I would have expected better laws from liberal politicians.

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