‘Gold standard’ bill to legalize recreational weed in Pennsylvania

Two Pennsylvania state senators introduced Senate Bill 350 in Harrisburg on Tuesday and it contains just about everything a cannabis advocate would love. There are provisions for growing cannabis at home, expungement of all cannabis criminal records, pizza-like delivery of marijuana to your door, and a bar-to-entry set so low that just about any Pennsylvanian could enter the trade as a grower or a retailer.

“This bill is fantastic,” said Les Stark, director of the Keystone Cannabis Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy organization with a statewide membership base. “It prioritizes the cannabis consumer and corrects some serious social justice problems. If it passes, it could become the gold standard legalization bill for the free world.”

Still, the bill faces an uphill battle, The bill has yet to gain any Republican sponsors. And a few weeks ago, when Gov. Tom Wolf called for legalizing recreational use, Republican lawmakers in the state House of Representatives said that they have “no plans or interest in legalizing recreational marijuana.”