The bill that aims to allow adult-use Marijuana from state-owned stores now goes to the State Senate.
The Pennsylvania State House passed a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis sold from state-owned stores. The bill passed along party lines with support from Democrats and will now go to the State Senate, where it is expected to face several significant hurdles. The state-owned store model would be unique to Pennsylvania, and some experts predict it could cause legal issues and federal funding roadblocks. Medical marijuana is currently legal in the Keystone state and has been since 2016.
Sen. Dan Laughlin, a Republican, went as far as to call the bill “essentially dead-on-arrival” in the GOP-controlled State Senate. Laughlin chairs a committee that would be critical for passage of the bill.
“As someone who has advocated for a responsible approach to legalization,” Sen. Laughlin said. “I have repeatedly made it clear that there is zero chance that the state store model will make it through the Senate.” The bill passed the House 102-101 completely along party lines, with every Democrat and no Republicans voting in favor. The state-owned model has been criticized by most Republicans as well as some Democrats.
But supporters of the model, such as Rep. Dan Frankel and Rep. Rick Krajewski, argue that a state-owned model would protect consumers by keeping large cannabis corporations from dominating the industry. The two Democrats also argued that the model would be a positive move for public health. Key supporters of the bill have labeled the marijuana industry as “completely deregulated” and have argued that government supporters of adult-use legalization needed to take steps to protect consumers that could allegedly be harmed by complete deregulation of a legalized product. They further argued that the system would be similar to how Pennsylvania currently sells liquor and other alcoholic beverages, and that opponents overstate the difficulty of implementing the same model for cannabis.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has made his support for legalization of cannabis clear throughout his term but declined to say whether he would support a state-owned model. The Governor reiterated his support of the bill in a statement to reporters on Tuesday.
“I thought the House took a really important step by beginning to move the marijuana legalization bill,” Shapiro said. He tempered expectations by adding that “It’s the beginning. This is going to have to go through some bipartisan compromise.”
Recently, Shapiro projected an increase of $500 million in state revenue that would come from the first year of marijuana legalization. Some larger companies in the marijuana industry have been reported to make upwards of $150 million per month in revenue. While Republicans have been clear that they would not support this version of the cannabis model, others have introduced alternative legislation to push for legalization.
Rep. Abby Major (R-Armstrong) authored a bill that she argued would avoid the pitfalls of the state-owned system while pushing for the same outcome and protections. She also argued that Republicans should work harder to push for cannabis reform legislation.
