Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced new bills to allow adult-use marijuana sales in state-run stores, and to permit farmers and small agricultural businesses to grow cannabis.
David Delloso, a Democratic Representative from California, introduced the bill on Tuesday. The legislation was officially introduced two months after the co-sponsorship memorandum circulated.
The bill is very similar to the measure Delloso submitted last session. It would allow adults over 21 to possess, consume and cultivate cannabis in state stores run by Liquor Control Board.
The text reads: “In order to maximize the efficiency of law enforcement, increase revenue for public use and protect individual freedom, we, the people of Commonwealth, find and declare cannabis use should be legal and taxed for those who are over 21.”
The retail cannabis sales will be taxed 19 percent and the revenue generated would all go to the state general funds. The bill also created a separate regulatory scheme for industrial cannabis.
legislation has been co-sponsored by 20 people. It also considers the possibility that cannabis can be imported from states or countries in which marijuana is legal. The legislation would also prevent regulators from importing cannabis that was produced in a state that does not accept Pennsylvania exports.
In anticipation of a change in federal policy, lawmakers in several states are pursuing interstate marijuana trade legislation. Oregon, California and Washington State Governor have all passed similar bills.
Delloso, in a cosponsorship note for the Pennsylvania bill circulated first in February, emphasized the harms marijuana criminalization causes to individuals caught in the drug-war as well as the cost of enforcement of prohibition. He said that a legal cannabis industry would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue, and thousands of new jobs.
“However, allowing private companies to sell marijuana in Pennsylvania could lead to large corporations taking over the cannabis industry and putting profits ahead of the well-being our communities,” wrote. “These reasons, my legislation legalizes adult-use cannabis through the existing state store system to ensure safety and integrity in cannabis sales in Pennsylvania.”
Sen. Marty Flynn, a Democrat from Massachusetts, released a memo in this year asking lawmakers to support his bill to legalize pot through a program run by the state. However, it has not yet been filed.
Gov. Josh Shapiro , a Democratic candidate for governor in 2023-2024, proposed that adult-use marijuana be legalized and taxed along with a commercial private market. This proposal was part of the budget request he submitted to Congress in March. It is not clear whether he supports the state-run system. His predecessor indicated that was “an ideal method to distribute” cannabis.
On Tuesday, Rep. Melissa Shusterman and 13 other co-sponsors filed a new Bill that seeks to create a process to allow farmers to grow cannabis for marijuana processors once legalization has been enacted.
A cosponsorship note states, “I believe that when adult-use marijuana is legalized in Pennsylvania everyone should be able to access and have an equitable entry into adult-use Cannabis industry, including small businesses and farmers.” My legislation will allow farmers and small agricultural enterprises to sell adult-use marijuana to existing grower/processors.
Last session , the lawmaker introduced separate legislation that would have increased the number of medical cannabis cultivators in the State. She prioritized small farms to break what she described as a large corporation or monopoly that has created supply issues.
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After the election of last year, Democrats gained control of the House. Republicans still control the Senate. However, there are some GOP members who support legalization, such as Sens. Mike Regan and Dan Laughlin, both Republicans, have backed reform.
In February, Laughlin sent a similar letter to the state’s law enforcement officials, urging them to take steps to protect the gun rights of cannabis consumers and medical marijuana patients in light of a recent federal court ruling.
In January, Reps. Dan Frankel and Donna Bullock circulated a cosponsorship memorandum about upcoming cannabis legalization legislation. The memo did not mention using a state-run system.
Laughlin, Sen. Sharif Stree (D), and Reps. Jake Wheatley and Frankel all filed legalization bills in 2021. The bills were not passed by the end session.
Street 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.
Photo by Mike Latimer.
The article Pennsylvania Lawmakers File a Bill to Legalize Marijuana Sale Through State-Run Stores first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
