Pennsylvania Representatives Jake Wheatley (D) and Dan Frankel (D) announced on Twitter that they were excited to introduce their cannabis legalization bill to Congress soon. The pair also released a memorandum to other House members about what their bill will entail and how it will help Pennsylvania citizens.
Legalization Bill
The bill “will introduce a proposal to legalize the possession of up to 28.38 grams of cannabis and up to 5 grams of a cannabis product in solid, liquid or concentrated form for personal use in the Commonwealth by adults twenty-one years of age or older.” It will also include social equity measures and a 20 percent tax split between the state and local governments.
Other Bills
This bill set for introduction isn’t the only bill currently circulating around the Pennsylvania Congress. Another bill written by Senators Dan Laughlin (R) and Sharif Street (D) also looks to legalize recreational cannabis. They announced the drafting of the bill back in February. However, it has not been presented to the Senate yet.
Additionally, two decriminalization bills in the House and the Senate became introduced earlier in the year. However, they have not received discussion in their assigned committees. HB 204 and SB 107 would decriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis for adults and remove the threat of jail time.
Governor Support
The new legalization bill comes at the same time as Governor Tom Wolf (D) again calling on the Republican led state Congress to allow legalization bills to move through. Governor Wolf has been advocating for recreational cannabis legalization since the beginning of the year. Most recently, Governor Wolf took to Twitter to express his excitement for Connecticut’s new recreational cannabis legalization bill. “Another state in the northeast is legalizing adult-use marijuana. Pennsylvania should be next,” he said.
The Pennsylvania legislative session ends late in the year. There is a definite chance cannabis legalization and decriminalization may still come to the state. But only time will tell.
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