Cannabis and Social Justice: The Impacts of Criminalization

Policy Committee    March 1, 2022

Arrests for marijuana possession make up 42 percent of all drug arrests in Pennsylvania and nearly two-thirds of those arrests are people of color. The House Democratic Policy Committee examined these facts and the impact of cannabis criminalization in Pennsylvania. 

The hearing was hosted by Rep. Amen Brown in Philadelphia on Tuesday, March 1 at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 1 on the 5th Floor of 2.0 University Place, 30 N. 41st St. 

Host + Testifiers

• Hosted by: Rep. Amen Brown
• Testimony by:
  • Andrea Lindsay, lead investigator and mitigation specialist, Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity. 
  • Jervonne Singletary, director of government and regulatory affairs, GoodBlend PA.  
  • Lester Hollis, Hollis Ventures LLC.  
  • Benjamin Pascal, chief business officer, Invisible Sentinel.  
  • Isaac “Ikey Raw” Gardner, Unsolved Murders in Philly & Impacted Citizen.  
  • Andrea Foster, president, Westpark Apartments Resident Council.

Agenda + Testimony

• Hearing agenda and list of participants: Testimony from Rep. Brown's Hearing on the Impact of Marijuana Criminalization

Media Release + News Coverage

• Cannabis and Social Justice: The Impacts of Criminalization, 3/1/2022
• The Philadelphia Inquirer, Legalizing weed in Pennsylvania faces complicated demands, 3/2/2022

Video + Photos