Screen grab from Pennsylvania Senate hearing video Warren County District Attorney Rob Greene testifies Monday before the Pennsylvania Senate Law and Justice Committee regarding legalization of adult-use marijuana.

When the Pennsylvania Senate’s Law and Justice Committee was looking for testimony regarding the safety issues related to legalization of marijuana for adult use, they looked to Warren County.

Committee Chairman Mike Regan (R-Cumberland and York) had spoken with District Attorney Rob Greene before.

Greene said he had contacted Regan’s office to express his appreciation for a Republican lawmaker who would stand up for legalization.

“A Republican having the confidence to come out and be in favor of recreational marijuana… I called his office and told him, ‘I want to let you know I appreciate your stance,'” Greene said. “Within the hour, he called me.”

At that point, Regan asked Greene if he would be willing to testify at committee meetings. Greene agreed.

On Monday, Greene came through on that promise and testified before the committee at a hearing regarding legalization of adult-use marijuana.

Regan said he called the hearing to discuss the public safety issues related to marijuana legalization.

“It is already out there,” Regan said. “It is already being used by millions of people – young and old, far and wide. But in doing so, they are putting billions of dollars into the hands of violent criminals, and they are risking consuming a product that could be laced with substances such as fentanyl, crack cocaine, embalming fluid or even mold, fungus, or other unknown pathogens.”

Greene and York County District Attorney David Sunday (who attended virtually) were the second group of experts to address the committee Monday morning.

“Legal or not, adult use marijuana is here and not going away,” Greene said. “Any adult or child that wants to get weed can get it with little effort. The majority of adults using it are decent people and not criminals.”

He made several points regarding the possible legalization of marijuana for adult use.

“We’ve lost the War on Drugs,” he said. “We cannot incarcerate our way out of this mess. It’s time to change this strategy. The commonwealth needs to lead legalization and research.”

“We can continue to bang our heads against the wall fighting this War on Drugs, or we can regulate marijuana similar to alcohol with the goal to keep adult-use marijuana away from children and prevent unsafe driving while impaired,” he said.

“We’re in the middle of an opioid, hard-drug epidemic. Meth, heroin, and hard-drug usage is at an all-time high,” Greene said. “We in law enforcement should not be wasting our time and effort on a plant that is much less harmful than alcohol.”

“Drug cartels and drug dealers are directly benefiting from marijuana prohibition,” he said.

Legalization would also help make ingesting marijuana safer, he said, by making sure the marijuana people are using is free of other chemicals.

“This is about saving lives – making sure that it’s clean product, that kids aren’t dying, adults aren’t dying from fentanyl-laced marijuana, embalming fluid-laced marijuana, who knows what kind of marijuana,” he said. “Drug overdose deaths have dramatically gone down in states that have legalized marijuana.”

Relations between law enforcement and the public would be improved if marijuana were legalized for adult use, he said.

“When you have laws that harass and arrest citizens for something that the majority of the U.S. thinks should be legal, you’re creating a Big-Brother adversarial relationship. It’s not exactly building trust and respect. It’s encouraging hate and rebellion,” Greene said. “In today’s world where police are not seen in the best light in a lot of circles, wouldn’t it be nice if law enforcement did not need to arrest individuals for something that is less harmful than alcohol and instead police can go after the heroin, meth, and fentanyl?”

“With regard to enforcement, law enforcement is not here to be Big Brother, we’re here to be the good guy,” Greene testified. “Law enforcement want to arrest the hard drug users, not grandma who is sitting on her porch eating Cheetos watching Cheech and Chong.”

“Most law enforcement that I’ve talked to are in favor of legalization or decriminalization,” he said. “I’m in favor of legalizing and regulating adult-use marijuana in Pennsylvania.”

Greene and Sunday spent about 40 minutes before the committee.

“I think it went very well,” Greene said Monday afternoon. “I think everyone was very receptive to the idea. It’s going to happen. Why not regulate, and research, and control the narrative?”