Brown and White Vol. 135 no. 7

              The Brown and White Vol. 135 No. 7
Friday, September 28, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
By JORDAN WOLMAN
Deputy News Editor
Bethlehem became the eighth
Pennsylvania municipality to
decriminalize marijuana after a
months-long process, which culmi-nated
in the city council’s unani-mous
vote on an ordinance passed
June 19.
The ordinance significantly reduc-es
the penalty for possession of small
amounts of marijuana, making the
violation a summary offense rather
than a misdemeanor. It also allows
police officers to cite offenders as
they would for a summary offense
without formal court processing.
Although all council members
voted in favor of the ordinance,
not all local officials are on board.
Because Bethlehem is split between
both Northampton and Lehigh coun-ties,
two district attorneys serve the
city, and it just so happens that they
feel differently about the ordinance.
“Mr. Martin is opposed to decrim-inalization
on a local level because
state law preempts the field and
controls,” read a statement from
the Lehigh County DA’s office.
“Therefore, he has instructed local
police in Lehigh County to enforce
the law of the Commonwealth.”
Martin declined to comment fur-ther.
Northampton County DA John
Morganelli has advocated for the
decriminalization of marijuana at
the state level, however, he has
chosen not to take a stance on the
Bethlehem ordinance.
“I don’t like to get involved in
Jordan Wolman/B&W Staff
John Morganelli is the district attorney of Northampton County. Morganelli decided not to take a stance on the decriminalization of
marijuana in Bethlehem, however, he has argued for decriminalization of marijuana on the state level.
municipal government,” Morganelli
said. “Local government is up to local
officials, in this case, the Bethlehem
city council. I didn’t feel the need to
take positions on these issues one
way or the other.”
The disagreement between the
two DAs has Bethlehem Police Chief
Mark DiLuzio juggling two different
policies.
Martin has ordered that all mar-ijuana-
related crimes be processed
as misdemeanors, as they were
before the ordinance was passed.
However, with no formal stance from
Morganelli, DiLuzio has instructed
officers in the Northampton area of
Bethlehem to use their discretion
when it comes to marijuana-related
crimes.
DiLuzio said officers should eval-uate
each situation and consider the
amount of marijuana in possession
when determining if a charge is a
summary offense or misdemeanor.
“We want to enforce this in the
fairest way possible,” DiLuzio said.
“I kind of feel like King Solomon
from the Bible splitting our city
down the middle. It shouldn’t be this
way and it’s really up to the state
to act.”
DiLuzio said there were between
162 and 182 marijuana-relat-ed
arrests last year, and with 155
police officers on staff, he said the
city isn’t “jumping on people’s backs
for smoking weed.”
He said he has not noticed a major
change in marijuana use since the
ordinance was passed and believes
most people use it privately.
Bethlehem Councilman Bryan
Callahan said the city took action
because the current laws simply
weren’t working. He is supportive
of marijuana legalization beyond
Bethlehem’s decriminalization.
“If (the state) doesn’t legalize
(marijuana), the same people will
use it,” Callahan said. “If you want
to use it, you’re still using it. The
Farmers’ Market celebrates Hispanic Heritage
Shana Lichaw/B&W Staff
The Bethlehem Farmers’ Market and the Hispanc Center of the Lehigh Valley came together on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018, to
incorporate aspects of the Hispanic community into the market. The partnership aims to celebrate Hispanic heritage and boost
farmers’ market attendance from the Latino community in the Lehigh Valley.
By VICKY TAHOS
Community Engagement Manager
The Bethlehem Farmers’ Market
is collaborating with the Hispanic
Center of the Lehigh Valley to cel-ebrate
Hispanic Heritage Month
through live music, dance lessons
and food.
Carlos Barata, the manager
and organizer of the Bethlehem
Farmers’ Market, said a partner-ship
with the Hispanic Center is
critical to the development of the
community.
“The Hispanic Center provides
so many services to the commu-nity,”
Barata said. “We wanted
to help bridge the gap between
the Hispanic community and
other demographics of the Lehigh
Valley.”
The partnership at the farm-ers’
market began Sept. 20 and
See HERITAGE Page 3
See MARIJUANA Page 3
SPLIT CITY
New marijuana ordinance leads to DA disagreement