HARRISBURG, Pa. — A proposed bill that would legalize adult-use cannabis in Pennsylvania, which was approved by the State House last week, has advanced to the Pennsylvania Senate for consideration and on Monday was referred to the Senate’s Law and Justice Committee.
State Sen. Dan Laughlin (R., Erie), who chairs the Law and Justice Committee, told Spotlight PA the bill was “dead on arrival” in the Republican-controlled chamber.
The Cannabis Health & Safety Act (HB1200) was passed in the House by a party-line vote of 102-101 on May 5.
The bill would give direct control of the retail side of the cannabis industry to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which would also be responsible for licensing marijuana cultivation, processing, transportation, and on-site consumption businesses that could be privately owned.
Under the legislation, cannabis shops would be barred from selling more than 42.5 grams of marijuana — the legislation’s proposed legal possession limit for adults aged 21 and over — within a 24-hour period.
Cannabis flower would be limited to containing 25% THC, and edibles would be limited to 5mg of THC per serving, with a maximum of 25mg total.
Adults who obtained a home cultivation permit from the LCB would be allowed to grow up to two mature and two immature plants in a secure location in their home for personal use under the terms of the legislation.
The bill also proposes that marijuana products sold at licensed shops would be subject to a 12% excise tax. Revenue from the taxes would be deposited in a Cannabis Revenue Fund managed by the Department of Revenue.
The fund would be used to cover administrative costs for the departments that regulate the marijuana program, including those that facilitate expungements for those with prior marijuana convictions for activities that the new law would make legal.
The rest of the tax revenue would be distributed to a community investment fund (50%), substance misuse treatment programs (10%), cannabis business development (5%), minority business development (2.5%), and grants to county courts that process expungements (2%).
The remaining revenue would be deposited into the state general fund.
Critics of the bill have expressed concerns about the pace that it was introduced and considered in the House last week. It was introduced on May 4, was approved by the House Health Committee a day later, and was passed by the full House a day after that.
The bill’s supporters point out that numerous hearings about the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Pennsylvania have already been held, and say it’s time to move the conversation forward.
With 24 states — including five of the six states that border Pennsylvania — having already legalized recreational cannabis, and public opinion overwhelmingly in support, the bill’s supporters say the commonwealth cannot afford to wait any longer.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro last week posted his support after the bill passed in the House.
“Nearly all of our neighbors have legalized adult-use cannabis — and while we sit on the sidelines, we’re losing out on millions in revenue and millions more in economic activity.
It’s time for us to catch up.
The Pennsylvania House took an important step to create more economic opportunity by passing a bill to legalize marijuana.”
Now it’s time to find agreement and send a bill to my desk.”
