Bipartisan Pennsylvania Lawmakers File New Marijuana Legalization Bill As Neighboring States See Benefits Of Cannabis Sales

Bipartisan Pennsylvania lawmakers have officially filed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the Commonwealth.

About two months after circulating a memo with draft legislative language to build support for the proposal, Reps. Aaron Kaufer (R) and Emily Kinkead (D) formally introduced the legislation, alongside 15 other cosponsors, on Friday.

There’s been a stepped up push for reform in the legislature as neighboring states such as Ohio move forward to open legal cannabis markets. In the earlier memo, the sponsors said the regional developments mean outside states are positioned to “capture Pennsylvania dollars into their market.”

The legislation would create a regulated cannabis market under the state Department of Agriculture, prioritize social equity and small businesses, enact safeguards to deter youth use and generate tax revenue for law enforcement and local governments.

Adults 21 and older would be able to buy and possess up to 30 grams of cannabis. Medical marijuana patients could grow up to five plants for personal therapeutic use, but adult-use consumers would not have that option.

The bill was revised from the draft version in several ways before being filed, including by consolidating regulatory oversight and making it so the agriculture department would be responsible for managing both the state’s adult-use and medical cannabis programs. Previously, medical marijuana would’ve been separately regulated by the Department of Health, as is currently the case.

Language that would have mandated charter agreements between social equity licensees and existing operators was also removed. And the measure was also amendment to include strict advertising rules for billboard advertising.

The proposal would provide pathways for expungements, commutations and resentencing for cannabis-related convictions. Previously, it did not include such resentencing provisions. Under the proposal, there would be protections to allow incarcerated people to access medical cannabis if they are certified with a qualifying condition.

Existing operators would only be allowed to obtain one adult-use license, whereas the prior version called for a maximum of three licenses per operator. Also, the bill no longer imposes a cap on the number of marijuana grower licenses and instead leaves that up to the Department of Agriculture’s discretion.

There would be an 8 percent sales tax and 5 percent excise tax for adult-use cannabis products. Revenue from those taxes would go to a Cannabis Business Establishment Fund (30 percent), Cannabis Regulation Fund (30 percent), the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (15 percent), drug prevention services under the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (10 percent), local governments with cannabis businesses in their jurisdiction (10 percent) and support for the state’s medical cannabis program (5 percent).

The legislation also stipulates that adults who use cannabis in compliance with the state law could not be barred from possessing or purchasing firearms. However, that protection would be limited to the state’s statute and would not affect the ongoing federal prohibition on gun ownership by marijuana consumers.

“The majority of Pennsylvanians want a legal, adult-use market and the majority of states surrounding Pennsylvania have legalized marijuana,” Responsible PA spokesperson Brittany Crampsie said in a press release on Friday. “There are now viable bi-partisan proposals on the table today for the legislature to consider and there are no more excuses to wait.”

“We are pleased and applaud Representatives Kinkead and Kaufer who have taken the initiative to file this bill and renew our call on the legislature to pass legalization immediately upon the legislature’s return to Harrisburg in September,” she said.

In July, the governor of Pennsylvania said the administration and lawmakers would “come back and continue to fight” for marijuana legalization and other policy priorities that were omitted from budget legislation he signed into law that month.

When the Pennsylvania legislature approved the budget bill that Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) enacted, lawmakers also accidentally left medical marijuana dispensaries out of a section providing tax relief for the cannabis industry. And it hasn’t been clear whether the omission could be fixed without future legislative action.

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At a press briefing in July, the chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus seemed to temper expectations about the potential timeline of passing legalization legislation, pointing out that the rest of the session will likely be too politically charged heading into the November election to get the job done this year.

Other lawmakers have emphasized the urgency of legalizing as soon as possible given regional dynamics, while signaling that legislators are close to aligning House and Senate proposals.

Meanwhile, a report commissioned by activists projected that Pennsylvania would see up to $2.8 billion in adult-use marijuana sales in the first year of implementing legalization, generate as much as $720 million in tax revenue and create upwards of 45,000 jobs.

Sens. Sharif Street (D) and Dan Laughlin (R) also participated in an X Spaces event in June where they said the votes are there to pass a marijuana legalization bill as soon as this year, though they stressed that the governor needs to work across the aisle to get the job done—and argued that it would be helpful if the federal government implemented its proposed cannabis rescheduling rule sooner rather than later.

Street was also among advocates and lawmakers who participated in a cannabis rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in June, where there was a significant emphasis on the need to incorporate social equity provisions as they move to advance legalization.

Laughlin, for his part, also said an event in May that the state is “getting close” to legalizing marijuana, but the job will only get done if House and Senate leaders sit down with the governor and “work it out.”

Warren County, Pennsylvania District Attorney Robert Greene, a registered medical cannabis patient in the state, filed a lawsuit in federal court in January seeking to overturn a ban preventing medical marijuana patients from buying and possessing firearms.

Two Pennsylvania House panels held a joint hearing to discuss marijuana legalization in April, with multiple lawmakers asking the state’s top liquor regulator about the prospect of having that agency run cannabis shops.

Also in April, members of the House Health Committee had a conversation centered on social justice and equity considerations for reform.

At a prior meeting in March, members focused on criminal justice implications of prohibition and the potential benefits of reform.

At another hearing in February, members looked at the industry perspective, with multiple stakeholders from cannabis growing, dispensing and testing businesses, as well as clinical registrants, testifying.

At the subcommittee’s previous cannabis meeting in December, members heard testimony and asked questions about various elements of marijuana oversight, including promoting social equity and business opportunities, laboratory testing and public versus private operation of a state-legal cannabis industry.

And during the panel’s first meeting late last year, Frankel said that state-run stores are “certainly an option” he’s considering for Pennsylvania, similar to what New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) recommended for that state last year, though a state commission later shied away from that plan.

Last year, Shapiro signed a bill to allow all licensed medical marijuana grower-processors in the state to sell their cannabis products directly to patients.

Separately, Pennsylvania’s prior governor separately signed a bill into law in July 2022 that included provisions to protect banks and insurers in the state that work with licensed medical marijuana businesses.

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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.