Many Pennsylvania residents with nonviolent cannabis offenses will be given a second chance, and the most recent batch of pardons is a promising and much-needed signal of relief.

In a Jan. 12 announcement, Gov. Tom Wolf granted 369 additional pardons, bringing his total to 2,540. Nearly 400 of those pardons were provided under an expedited review process for nonviolent cannabis-related offenses.

“I have taken this process very seriously—reviewing and giving careful thought to each and every one of these 2,540 pardons and the lives they will impact. Every single one of the Pennsylvanians who made it through the process truly deserves their second chance, and it’s been my honor to grant it,” said Gov. Wolf. 

“A record prevents positive forward motion in a person’s life, and can spark a repetitive cycle of defeat. I firmly believe that with restored rights, pardoned Pennsylvanians prove themselves by stepping up and giving back to our communities.”

These 2,540 pardons are the most granted by a governor in the history of Pennsylvania. Before Gov. Wolf, Gov. Ed Rendell held the record with 1,122 pardons granted.

Among Gov. Wolf’s pardons, 395 of those were part of the expedited review process for nonviolent cannabis-related offenses and 232 were a part of the PA Marijuana Pardon Project.

In 2019, the Board of Pardons introduced and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman authorized the Expedited Review Program for Nonviolent Marijuana-Related Offenses, a program to speed up the pardon application process for people with nonviolent cannabis possession or paraphernalia convictions. 

PA Marijuana Pardon Project is a one-time, large-scale pardoning project for people with select minor, non-violent cannabis criminal convictions. The project is spearheaded by Gov. Wolf and former Lieutenant Gov. Fetterman, and was announced on Sept. 1, 2022, providing a faster way of the process.

“Nobody should be turned down for a job, housing, or volunteering at your child’s school because of some old nonviolent weed charge, especially given that most of us don’t even think this should be illegal,” Fetterman said at the time. Fetterman now serves as U.S. senator from Pennsylvania after assuming office on Jan. 3.

In legal terms, a pardon constitutes total forgiveness by the state for a ​criminal conviction, regardless of whether ​the sentence included time in prison, and allows for expungement of the related criminal record. Applying for a pardon is free for individuals seeking clemency, and the change was made during the Wolf Administration. Under the administration, the pardons process was modernized so that the application process is more streamlined, and the application fees are now waived. The application can be downloaded online and the process does not require a lawyer.

A report released in 2020 by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia—analyzing 10 years of pardons data—found that pardons contributed $16.5 million to Pennsylvania’s economy over the past decade at “no cost to anyone.”

The governor has shown consistent support for cannabis over the past several years, after coming around to it more recently. On Twitter in 2021, Gov. Tom Wolf reiterated his call to end pot prohibition in Pennsylvania. It’s a change in tune for Wolf, who in 2017 said that Pennsylvania wasn’t ready to legalize recreational pot use. Two of Pennsylvania’s neighbors, New Jersey and New York, helped push the state into adopting its own cannabis market.

Gov. Wolf has served for two terms in his leadership role. The governor’s Priorities for Pennsylvania is helping to fuel Pennsylvania’s economic comeback, and the latest round of pardons is helping to further improve his image.

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Pennsylvania residents who have previously been busted for cannabis now have a pathway to a clean record.

Gov. Tom Wolf and Lieutenant Gov. John Fetterman, both Democrats, announced last week the creation of the “PA Marijuana Pardon Project,” billed as an “effort to quickly pardon thousands of Pennsylvanians from minor, non-violent marijuana-related convictions.”

“This pardon project has the potential to open the door for thousands of Pennsylvanians – the college grad looking to start their career, the grandparent who’s been wanting to chaperone a field trip, or any Pennsylvanian who’s been told ‘no’ for much needed assistance. Now’s your chance,” Wolf said in the announcement on Friday.

The governor’s office said that “Pennsylvanians eligible for the opportunity to be pardoned are those with one or both of the following convictions”: “Possession of Marijuana (Title 35 Section 780-113 Subsection A31)”; and “Marijuana, Small Amount Personal Use (Title 35 Section 780-113 Subsection A31I).”

Individuals interested in applying for the program have from September 1 through September 30 to submit their applications online.

“Under the program’s timeline, applicants will be notified by Oct. 13 if they will receive a public hearing. In mid-December, the Board of Pardons will vote on individual cases in public hearings. After the conclusion of the hearings, application recommendations will be made to Wolf for pardons that he will issue prior to departing office in January,” Wolf’s office said in the press release on Friday.

Wolf and Fetterman, who is running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania this year, said that they were taking the action “in the absence of legislative action on legalization by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.”

“Nobody should be turned down for a job, housing, or volunteering at your child’s school because of some old nonviolent weed charge, especially given that most of us don’t even think this should be illegal,” Fetterman said in the press release.

Fetterman, who is running against Republican nominee Mehmet Oz (AKA “Dr. Oz”) in the Senate race, is a vocal champion of marijuana legalization.

Last week, ahead of President Biden’s Labor Day visit to Pittsburgh, Fetterman urged the White House to take action on cannabis reform.

“It’s long past time that we finally decriminalize marijuana,” Fetterman said in a statement. “The president needs to use his executive authority to begin descheduling marijuana, I would love to see him do this prior to his visit to Pittsburgh. This is just common sense and Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support decriminalizing marijuana.”

That position makes for a stark contrast with Oz, who has said he is opposed to cannabis legalization, and whose campaign has mocked Fetterman’s pot-friendly policies.

In an ad released last month, the Oz campaign slammed Fetterman’s position on marijuana, and depicted a bong coming out of the Democratic candidate’s head.

“There are not enough Pennsylvanians to work in Pennsylvania,” Oz said in an interview with Newsmax in May, “so giving them pot so that they stay home is not, I don’t think, an ideal move….We need to get Pennsylvanians back at work, gotta give them their mojo, and I don’t want marijuana to be a hindrance to that.”

Fetterman, meanwhile, has not equivocated on the issue.

“I don’t want to hear any bull— coming out of Dr. Oz’s campaign trying to conflate decriminalizing marijuana with seriously harmful crime,” Fetterman said in a statement, as quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Are we supposed to believe that neither he nor any members of his staff have ever used marijuana? … I know firsthand what real crime looks like. Marijuana does not fit the bill.”

Cannabis reform advocates praised Wolf and Fetterman for the pardon program.

“It’s a good example of Gov. Wolf and Lt. Gov. Fetterman doing everything they can from the executive office on this issue,” Chris Goldstein, NORML’s Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware regional organizer, said in the press release last week.

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