On Friday, a bipartisan pair Pennsylvania senators announced that they would soon introduce a bill legalizing marijuana in the Commonwealth.
Sens. In a memo to co-sponsors, Dan Laughlin and Sharif Street, who have worked together on cannabis reform during previous sessions shared details about their upcoming proposal. This would create a market for commercial marijuana for adults aged 21 and over.
In a press statement, Laughlin stated that “Legalized use of adult marijuana is supported an overwhelming majority in Pennsylvania and this legislation achieves that while also ensuring social equity and safety.”
He said: “With New Jersey and New York, our neighboring states, implementing adult-use marijuana, we have an obligation to Pennsylvania taxpayers. We must legalize adult-use marijuana in order to avoid missing out on hundreds and millions of dollars worth of new tax revenues and thousands of jobs.”
The bill is still not officially filed, and its text isn’t yet available. However, senators have said that the new legislation would “improve” on their proposal from the last session. They called it a “bipartisan effort to legalize marijuana for adult use in Pennsylvania.”
Daw Fidler is Laughlin’s legislative director. He told Marijuana Moment via email that “the bill” was “currently a “work in progress”, and that “we have some updates and changes that we are working on based on” the legalization measure that they filed last session.
She said that she hoped to introduce a bill in June, probably closer to the end. Once it’s introduced and referred into committee, we will work closely with the committee to address any additional items before the vote in committee when they return to the session.
According to the press release from the senators, the upcoming legislation will prioritize public safety by giving law enforcement authorities the power to “adjudicate impaired driving” and “eradicate illicit markets”.
The legislation also prohibits marketing to youth, and sets workplace restrictions regarding marijuana use.
The senators also said that there will be provisions for social equity, which would facilitate expungements of prior marijuana convictions as well as prioritizing licensing to people who have been most affected by the drug-war. The senators said that the framework would allow “new and existing licensees” to meet demand in Pennsylvania and that it will include measures to “empower farmers and craft growers in Pennsylvania to cultivate marijuana in a safe and regulated manner.”
Street stated that the state had a “unique and singular opportunity” to correct decades’ worth of mass incarceration and disproportionate enforcement of marginalized communities. He also said the criminalization and perpetuation of violence were all a result of the failed drug war.
“Legalizing adult cannabis use will help us fund education fully and equitably, lower property tax, and address various community needs in Pennsylvania,” said.
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In their co-sponsorship memorandum the senators noted that, according to polls, “two-thirds” of Pennsylvanians support adult use legalization, with majorities in suburban, rural and urban legislative districts.
They said that since New Jersey and New York had legalized marijuana for adults, it was “our duty as taxpayers” to take the initiative to do so.
The senators warned their colleagues that if they failed to act, taxpayers would lose hundreds of millions in new tax revenue and thousands of jobs permanently at a time of greatest need. In February 2021 Appropriations Hearings, the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office predicted that legalizing marijuana for adult consumption would generate $400 million to one billion dollars in new tax revenues for the Commonwealth.
Pennsylvania House legislators also recently filed separate legislation to legalize marijuana sales through the state-run stores as well as to provide permits to farmers and small agricultural businesses to cultivate Cannabis once adult-use sale is allowed.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat from Massachusetts, supports cannabis reform. He proposed in March to tax and legalize adult-use marijuana.
After the election of last year, Democrats gained control of the House. Republicans still control the Senate but some Republicans like Mike Regan and Laughlin have backed reform.
Laughlin sent a similar letter in February to the state’s law enforcement officials, urging them to take action to protect the gun rights of cannabis consumers and medical marijuana patients. This was due to a recent federal court ruling.
In January, Reps. Dan Frankel and Donna Bullock circulated a cosponsorship memorandum about upcoming cannabis legalization legislation.
Street, the sponsor of the legalization bill that has yet to be filed, surprised some advocates recently when he joined other senators to urge a federal court to not authorize an overdose-prevention site site Philadelphia while supporting a proposed ban on harm reduction centers in the state.
Minnesota Senate approves marijuana legalization bill, sending it to the Governor
Image courtesy of Chris Wallis/Side Pocket Images.
The article Pennsylvania Senators Bipartisan Team Up on New Marijuana Legalization Bill first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
