Pennsylvania Laws and Programs

The current laws of the state of Pennsylvania regarding illegal and prescription drugs are governed by Title 35: § 780–113 Health and Safety: Drugs, Poisons, and Dangerous Substances: The Controlled Substance Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act of the Pennsylvania Statutes. After a decade of effort toward reform, both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature passed a treatment, rather than incarceration, bill in 2004. Governor Edward Rendell signed it into law on November 19, 2004. The legislation provides for intensive treatment as part of a drug sentence, and the first seven months of the treatment program would take place behind bars. Although not as strong a reform as the no-prison approach approved in several other states, it is a step in that direction.

Under Pennsylvania law, most substances ...