Philly420: Where in Pa. you're most likely to get busted for pot

Ten counties in Pennsylvania accounted for 60 percent of the state's marijuana possession arrests last year.

Decriminalization is working in Philadelphia and arrests by city police are down more than 80 percent from 4,374 in 2013 to 784 in 2015.

A similar policy adopted by the City of Pittsburgh will be implemented in March. Harrisburg is also looking to make the shift.

But other areas of the state are still seeing a steady stream of residents coming through the criminal justice system for small amounts of cannabis.

Data from Pennsylvania's Uniform Crime Reporting System show the amount of arrests within a given county that are performed by all departments, including state police troopers. My analysis also combines adults and juveniles because the municipal decrim ordinances apply to all ages.

The counties with the most amount of arrests for less than 30 grams of marijuana in 2015 are as follows:

1- Allegheny County with 2,191 marijuana arrests or per capita, 177 for every 100,000 residents.

2- Montgomery County with 1,550 marijuana arrests or per capita, 191 for every 100,000 residents.

3- Bucks County with 1,010 marijuana arrests or per capita, 111 for every 100,000 residents.

4- Delaware County with 976 marijuana arrests or per capita, 174 for every 100,000 residents.

5- York County with 926 marijuana arrests or per capita, 211 for every 100,000 residents.

6- Chester County with 877 marijuana arrests or per capita, 172 for every 100,000 residents.

7- Philadelphia County with 858 marijuana arrests or per capita, 54 for every 100,000 residents.

8- Dauphin County with 822 marijuana arrests or per capita, 303 for every 100,000 residents.

9- Lehigh County with 706 marijuana arrests or per capita, 199 for every 100,000 residents.

10- Berks County with 618 marijuana arrests or per capita, 149 for every 100,000 residents.

Statewide Stats

Men were, on average, five times more likely to get arrested for small amounts of weed than women.

It is also notable that about four times as many juveniles were arrested for marijuana (2,106) than for all other drug possession offenses combined (565).

Another factor is that there is almost twice as many arrests in Pennsylvania for less than 30 grams of marijuana (18,238) than for possession of heroin and cocaine combined (11,112). In some counties, like York, marijuana possession arrests were five times those for other drugs.

While police often tout that they are more concerned with those dealing drugs than users, the data implies the opposite approach.

For the large number of cannabis consumers being popped, there were surprisingly few arrests for marijuana sales and manufacture: 4,393. Those arrests would include cultivation. Compare that to the 9, 963 arrests for selling or manufacturing heroin and cocaine.

According to these overall statistics, the bulk of the War on Drugs in Pennsylvania is still geared towards marijuana. And, clearly, the focus is on marijuana consumers and low-level possession rather than the supply side.

Pennsylvania is one of just a handful of states that maintain an absolute prohibition of cannabis and hemp. Most states now have decriminalization, adult use, medical marijuana access, industrial farming bills, or a combination.

While municipal level reforms are picking up - Lancaster is considering decrim now too - the data shows that county governments and state legislators should consider becoming part of the conversation.

Colorado sold nearly a billion dollars worth of marijuana last year, created thousands of jobs and collected more than $135 million in taxes. Pennsylvania has twice the population as Colorado. That means that the benefits of ending prohibition here are doubled at every level.

Saddling almost 20,000 state residents every year with a permanent criminal record for something that is perfectly legal in Washington D.C. could certainly stop. Our rich history of creating liberty and freedom should grow to a new level with cannabis.

Note: The stats for Philadelphia County are slightly higher than those by Philadelphia Police Department and other departments in the city (like SEPTA Transit) that use code violations, because the county data also include arrests by the local state police troop. The statewide total in this article is slightly more than Philly420 reported in a January article because some precincts around the state had not submitted PAUCR data at that time.