Bill that would legalize marijuana in Pennsylvania stalls out in state senate
A bill that would have made recreational marijuana legal in Pennsylvania stalled out in the state senate.
The Senate Law and Justice Committee voted it down 7 to 3. That vote means the bill will not be taken up by the full state senate and the bill will not be signed into law by Governor Josh Shapiro.
Bill passes the Pennsylvania State House
Last week, the bill that would have allowed Pennsylvanians 21 and older to purchase marijuana legally passed the Pennsylvania House.
It marked the first time that a recreational weed bill had been approved by either chamber in Pennsylvania.
The main sponsor of the bill was Democrat Rep. Rick Krajewski of Philadelphia, who said it was a "balanced, responsible, and robust framework."
Republicans in the House opposed the bill.
Governor Josh Shapiro proposed legal marijuana in his budget and counted on Pennsylvania getting around $500 million in revenue from legal marijuana.
The proposal would have allowed direct sales that would be managed by the state-owned liquor store system. However, Fine Wine & Good Spirits locations wouldn't have become marijuana dispensaries, other retail outlets would have been created for marijuana purchase.
"Toothpaste is already out of the tube." Democrats in Pennsylvania want legal sales of marijuana
According to one of the sponsors of the bills, Democratic Rep. Dan Frankel, it had the potential to bring in $600 million in revenue.
"The toothpaste is already out of the tube," he said. Rep. Frankel also cited a state store model, such as Quebec, Canada, where there has been proven success.
He did caution that the longer Pennsylvania waits to legalize marijuana, illegal or quasi-legal places will continue to pop up, and those places have no public health supervision.
"You go right next door, you'll see a sign on the street with a big marijuana leaf saying no medical card needed here. We need to regulate that. That's a public health hazard," Rep. Frankel said.
While the bill failed in the Senate, it's not clear what comes next or if there will be another attempt at passing a legal marijuana bill anytime in the future.
