Legalization of recreational cannabis has once again found itself at the forefront of political discourse after Gov. Josh Shapiro rolled the subject into his annual budget proposal and highlighted it during his address at the state capitol on Tuesday.
Here’s what you need to know about where legalization efforts stand in Pennsylvania.
Does Shapiro support legalization of adult-use marijuana?
Yes. During his address Shapiro cited missed revenue opportunities, keeping up with competition in neighboring states and a desire for stricter regulation as his reasoning for backing legalization efforts.
Shapiro also supports record expungements of people incarcerated for cannabis possession.
His 2025-2026 budget address marks the second time he’s used the stage to throw his support behind legalization efforts. In his 2024 address, he called for a bill to be put on his desk.
“Letting this business operate in the shadows, it doesn’t make sense,” said the former attorney general. “And by doing nothing, we are making Pennsylvania less competitive.”
In conversations with dispensary owners in New Jersey, Maryland and New York, Shapiro said, they reported that about 60% of their customers are Pennsylvanians. Shapiro’s budget proposal estimates an annual revenue of $250 million for Pennsylvania, with $1.3 billion over the first five years of legalization.
The proposal aims to legalize the sale of recreational cannabis by July 1, 2025, with sales officially beginning the following January.
It would also invest $10 million of cannabis revenue into restorative justice initiatives that help those disproportionately impacted by a strict marijuana possession law, and $25 million for small and diverse businesses to be able to enter the cannabis market.
Do politicians support legalized adult use marijuana in Pa.?
While there hasn’t been widespread support to pass a bill to date, there have been recent efforts.
On July 6, 2023, Sens. Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, and Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, introduced bipartisan bill SB 846, which would have created a Cannabis Regulatory Control Board to oversee cannabis regulation, as well as a Cannabis Business Development Fund. The bill was referred to the Law and Justice Committee.
In December, House Reps. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, and Rick Krajewski, D-Philadelphia, announced their intent to introduce a bill to decriminalize cannabis, including putting caps on THC percentages in products for safety reasons and reinvesting revenue funds into communities harmed by the “war on drugs.”
Medical-use cannabis has been legal in Pennsylvania since 2016.
How many states have legalized recreational marijuana?
Twenty-four states have legalized adult-use cannabis, according to Pew Research Center, with more than half of all Americans estimated to live in those states. Additionally, 80% of Americans live in a county with at least one dispensary.Of those states with legalized recreational cannabis, five border Pennsylvania: Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
What do opponents of adult-use marijuana legalization say?
Some physicians have expressed caution about the potential health impacts of adult-use legalization without regulation.
In a March 2024 Post-Gazette story, Ajay Wasan, co-director of the Center for Innovation in Pain Care at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, expressed concern that lifting supervision and safety protocols during a transition from medical to recreational cannabis may increase adverse reactions to the drug.
“Marijuana has been a controlled substance for a number of years for a good reason,” he said. “Altering our state of consciousness might be reasonable for the majority of the population, but there is a unique minority for which there are sizable consequences.”
A 2023 Canadian study by professionals from York University, McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, “The Impact of Recreational Cannabis Legalization on Cannabis Use and Associated Outcomes: A Systematic Review” that examined 61 studies from 2016 to 2022 cited impaired driving, negative reactions leading to hospitalization, as well as use among youth and at-risk populations as commonly assessed potential negative impacts of recreational legalization.
How prepared is Pa.’s cannabis infrastructure?
According to the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, a nonprofit trade organization that advocates for safe cannabis use and sensible policy, there are currently 32 active growers/processors in Pennsylvania, as well as 200 dispensaries employing 25,000.
First Published: February 5, 2025, 7:08 a.m. Updated: February 6, 2025, 12:06 p.m.
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