Governor Wolf and Ltd Governor Feterman have been pushing for Legalization for the past couple years. It has been constantly shot down by the PAGOP. Now their is a new bipartisan bill to Legalize. With a major Republican on board convincing his party hopefully this now gets passed. I'm thinking Pennsylvania need tax money bad with Covid-19 reeking havoc. It's a shame it comes down to money just to get politicians to Legalize a plant that is pure medicine and should have never been illegal in the first place. Hopefully they add more growers because I'm a medical patient and I'll be pissed if they run out. This definitely needs to be addressed.
One of the (major) obstacles for PA is that the commonwealth has no ballot initiative process (like many states do), so PA citizens cannot vote on measures like cannabis legalization. Instead, legalization has to solely go through the state legislative process, and not enough PA politicians, at present, appear to want to push this initiative forward. If legalization eventually occurs, I can easily imagine that there will be significant restrictions (e.g. no growing or very limited growing for personal use, etc.). Nevertheless, because of legalization in neighboring states like New Jersey and (soon?) New York, I am still encouraged, as I don't think that PA wants to miss out on the revenue.
I agree not being able to vote on a Ballot is a killer. Leaving it up to the politicians makes it really hard Especially since the majority PAGOP wants nothing to do with it. Hopefully this new bipartisan bill gains some ground. The only thing I worry about as a medical marijuana patient is they don't have enough growers to meet the demand and the recreational folks buy up all the supplies. That won't be good. So hopefully they expand the growers before they legaliz it. With all the states around PA Legalizing it I'd be shocked if they don't get something past in the next 2 years. But then again it is PA always last to do everything.
Those are all great points. I know that many people have pointed out that state liquor control board's "wine and spirit" shops could be a convenient means to distribute cannabis throughout the state. So, the benefits of legalization could be reaped almost immediately. Fingers crossed (not that that helps).
I honestly think the wine and Spirit shops would be a horrible place to sell it. Most of those have a cold and dingy feeling to them. Or a mall like atmosphere or a Kmart. If that makes sense. What I love about the Cannabis shops is they are very upscale inside. And a nice warm atmosphere. Totally different. Which makes the experience so much better and unique. I wouldn't want it any other way. Plus I wouldn't want Cannabis to be associated with Alcohol. Alcohol is a carcinogen and is horrible for you and could kill you. Cannabis is medicine.
Agreed. I'd MUCH prefer to see private businesses grow and sell cannabis than the state. The point that I make above was simply a line of argument that some state legislators have used to promote the idea that cannabis legalization could be very practical in PA.