Listen to this articleAfter being approved by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last week, a bill to legalize the sale of adult-use recreational cannabis has died in the State Senate.
The Senate Law and Justice Committee’s vote to reject the proposal to legalize adult-use cannabis through a state-run retail model.
But that doesn’t mean the issue is over.
Committee Chairman Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, said that the senate is still considering what he described as a more workable plan, which he said the bill wasn’t.
“I have said repeatedly that a state-store model for adult-use cannabis will not pass the Senate,” Laughlin said. “There are serious challenges we can and should address right now,” Laughlin said. “Our medical marijuana program needs critical reforms. Hemp-derived THC products are being sold openly in gas stations and tobacco shops with no regulation, no testing and no age verification. And the continued reliance on the black market poses real risks to public safety.”
Laughlin said these he felt those problems could be addressed through the creation of a Cannabis Control Board, which would be a new regulatory body that would bring oversight, consistency and accountability to both the state’s medical program and the expanding gray market of hemp-derived intoxicants.
Dan Frankel, D-Pittsburgh, one of the sponsors of the bill in the house said that the Cannabis Health and Safety Act and the hybrid marketplace was projected to bring in more than $2.2 billion dollars to Pennsylvania in the first two years.
“Pennsylvania families deserve a modern cannabis policy that reflects science and compassion, not stigma,” Frankel added. “We are ready to work with our Senate colleagues to get this across the finish line.”
