Brookville council will not support cannabis legalization

BROOKVILLE — The Brookville Borough Council voted unanimously at its meeting this week to direct its Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs voting delegate, Karen Allgeier, to vote against an effort to decriminalize cannabis in Pennsylvania boroughs and to expunge any previous crimes related to the partaking of cannabis.

Borough manager Dana Rooney said that Abbottstown borough manager David W. Bolton sent a letter to council detailing how the Abbottstown had recently passed a resolution to decriminalize marijuana within its jurisdiction.

The letter from Bolton asked for support from the council for the measure at the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs conference, where he will be lobbying for the issue.

Borough second vice president Randy Bartley was eager to share his views on the subject and to state that he was adamantly against the proposal.

“I can’t hold back on this. This irritates me to no end, to think that a small Pennsylvania borough could supersede not only Pennsylvania law, but federal law. It’s the same as Philadelphia declaring itself a sanctuary city. It’s unconstitutional, and furthermore it’s wrong. They want to make recreational marijuana legal in that town. It is not the same as the marijuana of the past: it is much, much more powerful and dangerous. It is indeed a gateway drug. I oppose this,” Bartley said.

Solicitor Jim Dennison did not mince words either, and simply gave the recommendation that the council spend no time considering this proposal.

Allgeier, council vice president, said that the board did indeed need to take action, granting her their blessing and support to vote against the measure at the PSAB conference.

“When I first got this, I was blown away because I know the person who wrote this. Immediately my first phone calls were to Chief (Vince) Markle and the district attorney, expressing my concern. This is a slippery slope, and I don’t think that we as a borough have any right to consider this. My original thought was to do nothing with it, but it is going to be voted on, just so you know, that resolution will be part of the PSAB conference resolutions at the end of this month. As the voting delegate, I need the council’s full support in voting against this resolution,” Allegeier said.

Bartley made the motion for the council to vote against the measure and to direct Allegeier to vote against the resolution at the conference. It was seconded by David Taylor. It was passed unanimously.