Bipartisan bill to legalize marijuana introduced in Pa. Legislature

Marijuana legalization will get another chance in the Pennsylvania Legislature thanks to a new bipartisan bill.

State Sens. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, and Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, this week introduced a bill that would allow those over the age of 21 to buy and use marijuana. It would also expunge the convictions of those sentenced for nonviolent marijuana-related offenses.

Existing medical marijuana dispensaries would be allowed to sell their products to the public, and new dispensaries would be licensed.

Licenses to grow marijuana would be made widely available, a departure from the strictly limited number of growers allowed under the state’s existing medical marijuana program.

“While my colleague Sen. Street and I come from different political parties, we see a bipartisan way forward on marijuana legalization that is premised on safety and social equity,” Laughlin said in a statement.

Today @SenSharifStreet and l introduced a bipartisan adult use cannabis bill.

As the marijuana movement reaches Pennsylvania, legalization must be done the right way. This bill ensures a legalized market in the Commonwealth is implemented safely and responsibly.

— Senator Dan Laughlin (@senatorlaughlin) February 24, 2021

Street is one of the Senate’s leading advocates for legalization of marijuana. He co-sponsored a 2019 legalization bill that died in committee, and appeared with Gov. Tom Wolf in a September news conference at which Wolf called for legalization.

“In close collaboration with Sen. Laughlin, key community groups and stakeholders throughout the commonwealth, we developed a bill that is a Pennsylvania approach to adult-use marijuana legalization,” Street said in a statement.

Years from know, we'll mark the day bipartisan cannabis reform was introduced in PA on #BHM . Blacks and Latinos are 4 to 5 times more likely to be impacted by cannabis use. We're committed to centering social justice reform. Weigh in at https://t.co/Ur8hsTpbdg #CannabisCommunity

— Senator Sharif Street (@SenSharifStreet) February 24, 2021

Marijuana legalization could be expected to bring in more than $400 million in revenue for Pennsylvania, according to the senators.

Several marijuana legalization bills have been introduced in the Legislature several times in recent years, but none made it very far.

Calls for legalization have intensified, with Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman making repeated appeals for action to the Legislature.

Republican leadership have expressed opposition to the measure, saying Wolf should not be trying to legalize a drug during the opioid crisis.