The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill to legalize cannabis for adults from state-run stores. While legalization is long overdue in the Keystone State, we have serious concerns that — due to federal prohibition — the state-run stores model may prove a costly boondoggle that never results in legal access.
If you live in Pennsylvania, let your state senator know you want them to support a workable legalization law!
The Cannabis Health and Safety Act (HB 1200), sponsored by Rep. Rick Krajewski and House Health Committee Chair Dan Frankel, would charge the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board with running state cannabis stores and licensing private cannabis growers, processors, transporters, on-site consumption lounges, and labs. Possession of small amounts of cannabis would be downgraded to a fine-only summary offense until sales begin (if they begin), at which time it would be legalized. At that time, adults could also apply for a permit to grow up to two mature cannabis plants at home.
HB 1200 includes important provisions to prevent families from being torn apart and lives being ruined because adults choose to relax with cannabis. It includes broad, automatic expungement to clear the record for past offenses, and invests 50% of the proceeds of cannabis revenue into hard-hit communities.
You can find our full summary here.
While 54% of Americans live in legal cannabis states, Pennsylvania lags far behind. It is one of only 19 states where adults can be incarcerated simply for possessing cannabis. According to government data, there were more than 11,000 arrests for cannabis possession in 2023 alone. Five of Pennsylvania’s six neighboring states have legalized adult-use cannabis.
It’s past time for Pennsylvania to treat adults like grown ups, and stop punishing them for using cannabis. But it’s important that the bill creates a workable model. Let’s get it done, and done right!
- Take Action: Urge your state legislators to support a compassionate medical cannabis program!
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PA House of Representatives passes state-stores legalization bill
Pa.: Legislature kicks of 2022 session; several cannabis bills carry over from 2021
Tell your legislators it’s time to support legalization!
Last week, the 2022 session for Pennsylvania’s legislature began. Last year saw several legalization and decriminalization proposals, but none received a hearing or were called for a vote. Luckily, many of the 2021 proposals have carried over to 2022, which presents another opportunity to enact sensible, humane cannabis policy before the session adjourns in November.
Decriminalization
Despite Pennsylvania authorizing medical cannabis in 2016, it remains one of 19 states that continues to punish cannabis possession with jail time in most parts of the state. Let’s urge the legislature to end this injustice in 2022.
SB 107, sponsored by Sen. Sharif Street (D), would reclassify possession of a small amount of cannabis from a misdemeanor to a summary offense carrying a $25 fine. Public use would be a $100 fine. HB 204, sponsored by Rep. Edward Gainey (D), would reduce the penalty for possession of a small amount of cannabis to a fine of up to $100. Neither bill received a hearing in 2021, but both bills have been carried over to 2022.
Legalization
Last year, several legalization bills were proposed, although none received a hearing. In the House, Rep. Jake Wheatley (D) sponsored HB 2050, which is the third version of Rep. Wheatley’s legalization proposal. Also in the House, Rep. David Delloso (D) sponsored HB 1180, which would legalize and regulate cannabis for adults. However, HB 1180 seeks to establish state-controlled cannabis stores similar to those for alcohol, which would be in direct contradiction to federal law prohibiting state employees from working directly with cannabis. Both bills carried over into the 2022 session.
Meanwhile in the Senate, Sen. Daniel Laughlin (R) sponsored SB 473, which would also set up a legalization framework for the Keystone State. SB 473 also carried over to 2022.
Action: Tell your legislators it’s time to support legalization!
Be sure to reach out to your lawmakers to let them know you want them to end arrests for cannabis possession and to legalize cannabis for adult use this session! After you reach out, please urge your friends and family in Pennsylvania to do the same.
PA lawmakers propose bipartisan medical home grow bill
Tell your state lawmakers you support patient grow rights!
Exciting news! Just last week, a bipartisan pair of senators introduced a bill that would permit home cultivation of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania. Sens. Dan Laughlin (R) and Sharif Street (D), who also jointly proposed a separate legalization bill earlier this year, introduced the concept in a letter to senators calling on them to sign on as cosponsors.
Under the proposal, which hasn’t yet been formally introduced, Pennsylvania medical marijuana patients would be allowed to grow a limited number of plants for personal use. The senators cite Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board meetings as revealing significant disparities in accessibility, with some patients traveling more than two hours to access their medicine.
Offering patients the alternative to grow their own medicine would “help ease the cost and accessibility burdens,” both senators said. Please take a few minutes to email your state lawmakers to add your voice to the growing number of Pennsylvanians who support grow rights for medical patients.
Penn.: Removal of DUI penalties for legal medical cannabis use
Tell your state senator you support S.167!
Despite having a medical marijuana program since 2018, Pennsylvania’s “zero tolerance” driving under the influence law still does not recognize the difference between medicinal and recreational cannabis use. This statutory oversight places unimpaired medical patients at risk of arrest, prosecution, and conviction every time they operate a motor vehicle, even when driving responsibly. Under current law, any amount of cannabis found in a driver’s system could result in a DUI charge, which carries a penalty of 72 hours of incarceration, a $1,000 minimum fine, and a 12-month license suspension for the first offense, with increased penalties for each subsequent DUI conviction.
S.167, a bill sponsored by Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R), would amend current law to require proof of actual impairment — similar to the requirements for operating a vehicle while using prescription drugs — to form the basis for a DUI conviction. Thousands of Pennsylvanians have found relief for their chronic illnesses through the medical marijuana program, but until Title 75 is amended, patients will continue to risk arrest and conviction every day for using a substance that does not impair their ability to operate a vehicle.
That’s why we’re calling on Pennsylvania residents to write their state senators today and urge them to sign on as cosponsors to S.167 to remove DUI penalties for legal medical cannabis use. With your support, we can build the momentum needed to get this commonsense reform signed into law.
Thank you for taking action, and please stay tuned for additional updates throughout the 2021 legislative session.
PA lawmakers pass medical marijuana improvement legislation
Good news! On June 30, 2021, Governor Wolf signed P.L. 210 into law, making several improvements to Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program. P.L. 210 (otherwise known as HB 1024) was sponsored by Rep. Paul Schemel (R-Franklin) and acts on recommendations made by the Department of Health to revise the Medical Marijuana Act, which was signed into law in 2016.
The proposal most notably allows patients to purchase three times as much cannabis as they previously could, and it removes language that steered chronic pain patients to try more dangerous painkillers first. P.L. 210 also narrows the restriction on people with past drug convictions working in or owning medical cannabis businesses. It protects patient safety standards and product quality of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program while empowering the Medical Marijuana Advisory Board to continue to consider new medical conditions for eligibility. It will also retain certain flexibilities enacted under the state’s COVID-19 disaster declaration that patients and dispensaries found improved safe access. You can check out a summary of P.L. 210 here and a full summary of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana law here.
Although the updates to the medical marijuana program are welcomed, we know that many residents will still not be able to access cannabis for their medicine. That’s why we are continuing to push for legalization in Pennsylvania. Please take a few minutes to email your state lawmakers to add your voice to the growing number of Keystone residents that support marijuana legalization.
Pa. lawmakers propose bipartisan legalization bill
Tell your state lawmakers you support cannabis legalization!
Exciting news! Just last week, a bipartisan pair of senators introduced a bill that would legalize cannabis for adult use in Pennsylvania. Sens. Dan Laughlin (R) and Sharif Street (D) have drafted legislation that would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess cannabis from licensed retailers. The possession limit would be set at 30 grams, and medical marijuana patients would have an option to cultivate up to five plants at home.
Under the proposal, which hasn’t yet been formally introduced, a Pennsylvania Cannabis Regulatory Control Board would be responsible for managing both the medical and recreational programs and issuing marijuana business licenses. Cannabis products would be subject to the state’s six percent sales tax, in addition to a 10 percent excise tax. The revenue would go to a new Cannabis Regulation Fund, as well as a Cannabis Business Development Fund that would provide financial aid, loans, grants and technical assistance to social and economic equity businesses. You can check out a full summary of the bill here.
As the momentum continues to build for legalized, regulated sales of cannabis to adults in Pennsylvania, please take a few minutes to email your state lawmakers to add your voice to the growing number of Keystone residents who support marijuana legalization.
PA Senate Democrats file decriminalization bill
Contact your state senator and ask them to support SB 107!
I have some encouraging news to share with you. Last week, Sen. Sharif Street filed a bill with the Judiciary Committee to decriminalize up to 30 grams of cannabis.
Currently, possession and distribution of 30 grams of cannabis (or eight grams of hashish without intent to sell) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days imprisonment and a $500 fine.
Under SB 107, the penalty for possession and distribution would be reduced to a summary offense and a $25 civil fine. The penalty for smoking cannabis in public places would be reduced to a $100 civil fine.
While the measure is an important step toward ending the failed policies of the war on cannabis, it wouldn’t reduce penalties associated with paraphernalia. In other words, cannabis consumers could still be jailed for the baggie cannabis is stored in, even if the cannabis itself is decriminalized.
The bill has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. We know that inaction will only lead to continued arrests and the ruining of more lives of Pennsylvanians.
Please consider emailing your state senator and asking them to strengthen the bill and sign on as a cosponsor.
Thank you for your support, and please continue to look out for updates throughout the 2021 legislative session.
Pennsylvania Legislature considering improving medical cannabis protections
Ask your state senator to put an end to wrongful DUI convictions of medical cannabis patients.
It’s been four years since the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Gov. Tom Wolf legalized medical cannabis. But Pennsylvania still has an unscientific law on the books that criminalizes driving with cannabis in one’s system. Because THC can stay in the body for a week, completely sober drivers — including medical cannabis patients — can be wrongfully branded with a DUI conviction!
On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill (SB 773) that would create an exception to this unjust law for state-legal patients. Medical cannabis patients could still be convicted if they drove while impaired, but this would stop criminalizing sober patients with trace amounts of THC in their blood.
Ask your senator to support this important reform.
The Senate already passed a different version of the bill, which includes other DUI reforms. But the medical cannabis protections were added to the House in a floor amendment, so SB 773 will return to the Senate for another vote.
Check out Rep. Ed Gainey’s powerful speech in support.
In other news, a bipartisan bill was introduced to make several other improvements to Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis law. HB 2945 would remove a cap on the number of patients each caregiver can serve, allow entities (such as nursing homes) to serve as caregivers, allow more medical cannabis telemedicine, and remove a provision that sunsets the law when the federal government reschedules cannabis.
Stay tuned for updates. And don’t forget to take action and spread the word. Together, we can keep improving Pennsylvania’s cannabis laws.
Cannabis voter guide for Pennsylvania published!
Tuesday, November 3 is Election Day. This year’s elections will be critical in determining whether Pennsylvania will finally legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older.
We’ve put together a voter guide on where the candidates stand on legalizing, regulating, and taxing cannabis for adults 21 and older. It includes responses to our candidate questionnaire, along with past public stances on legalization.
Despite the pandemic, the issue of legalization has been front and center in Pennsylvania throughout 2020. At the top of the year, a House bill that built on a 2019 proposal to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for adult use in the Keystone State was introduced. In May, a poll commissioned by the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition (PCC) and conducted by Harper Polling found 62% of likely voters in Pennsylvania favor legal, regulated sales of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Additionally, Gov. Wolf and Lt. Gov. Fetterman have been vocal in their consistent call for legalization to spur economic development caused by the pandemic throughout the year.
As I’m sure you know, state legislative races are often close contests that can be decided by just a few votes. I encourage you to first look up your state legislators here. Then, check out our voter guides for Pennsylvania Senate races and Pennsylvania House races to see where the candidates stand.
After you have a chance to look at our voter guide, please spread the word. If a candidate in your district has not taken a public position, we strongly encourage you to ask them these questions yourself! We would be happy to update the voter guide with their answers; please email DeVaughn Ward with any updates.
Don’t miss out on a chance to decide who represents you in Harrisburg and will vote on Pennsylvania’s cannabis policy in the 2021 session.
The deadline to register to vote is next Monday, October 19. All voters are allowed to vote absentee, and requests must be in by Monday, October 27. You can find ballot return locations here. Absentee ballots must be postmarked or received in person by November 3. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
New study shows legalization appears to have had little effect on cannabis use among adolescents
A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health found little effect of adult-use marijuana laws on prevalence of marijuana use among youth.
In this examination, researchers focused specifically on 504 justice system-involved adolescents in California, who, as they point out, have substantially higher marijuana use levels as compared to the general youth population. Among this population, they found marijuana use levels in the past 24 hours were similar in 2015 (before adult-use marijuana was legalized) and in 2018 (after adult-use marijuana was legalized and implemented in the state).
The authors then compared the findings of the California youth population with a group of justice system-involved adolescents in Pennsylvania, a state that has not legalized cannabis for adult use and had lower levels of marijuana use than in California at baseline. If adult-use legalization laws increased adolescent marijuana use, the gap in marijuana use prevalence across the groups in the two states would be expected to grow. However, the gap actually grew smaller because marijuana prevalence increased relatively faster among the Pennsylvania adolescents.
As a whole, the study suggests that marijuana legalization has not had much overall effect on youth marijuana use during the past two decades. Over the past 10 years, state marijuana laws have changed substantially, with 11 states and D.C. legalizing cannabis for adults. Nonetheless, youth use rates have remained quite steady, indicating that major changes in the legality of marijuana across the U.S. have not impacted adolescent use.
The abstract of the study, “Marijuana use among justice-involved youths after California statewide legalization, 2015-2018,” appears here, and an accompanying editorial, “Marijuana legalization and marijuana prevalence among adolescents,” can be found here.