Will Pennsylvania Finally Legalize Recreational Cannabis?

Many bills have been put forth to try to achieve recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania, but this one might be different

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Two Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced a bill to legalize marijuana. Senators Dan Laughlin (R - Erie County) and Sharif Street (D - Philadelphia) introduced a bill Thursday that would allow those 21 and older to use recreational marijuana in the state.

The measure would include provisions for enforcement of DUI and pursuit of illegal markets, as well as deterrence efforts to keep marijuana out of the hands of children and ban any marketing toward children, according to Laughlin and Street’s co-sponsorship memo.

The bill would allow people to possess up to 30 grams (a little more than an ounce) of marijuana for personal use. It would also allow registered medical marijuana users to grow their product at home and expunge all non-violent marijuana convictions. Recreational users wouldn't be able to home-grow their supply.

Recreational marijuana is legal in the District of Columbia and 23 states, including four that border Pennsylvania: New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and most recently Maryland.

Governor Josh Shapiro supports legalizing cannabis, but approval of this bill in the legislature is currently mixed, as it's been since bills to legalize the drug have been introduced since 2019.

Polls have found an increasing number of Pennsylvania residents support legalizing recreational marijuana.

A 2021 Franklin & Marshall College poll found 6 in 10 registered Pennsylvania voters supported allowing recreational marijuana use.

In their co-sponsorship memo, Laughlin and Street point out that Pennsylvania is losing out on millions of tax revenue that could be put towards many important projects in the state.

“It is our duty to taxpayers to seize the initiative and legalize marijuana concurrently with bordering states,” the memo said. “Failure to do so risks permanently ceding hundreds of millions of dollars of new tax revenue as well as thousands of jobs at a time when taxpayers can least afford it.”

Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office in 2021 projected marijuana legalization would generate $400 million to $1 billion in new tax revenue.

Legislation that would relax Pennsylvania’s 7-year-old Medical Marijuana Act and allow doctors to certify medical cannabis as a suitable treatment regardless of the patient’s medical condition was overwhelmingly approved by a Senate committee last month.