Politics
Bipartisan Pennsylvania Senators File Much-Anticipated Marijuana Legalization Bill
Bipartisan Pennsylvania senators have filed a bill to legalize marijuana for adult use in the state.
Almost five months after Sens. Dan Laughlin (R) and Sharif Street (D) announced their intent to introduce the legislation—one of their latest attempts to end prohibition in Pennsylvania—they formally filed it on Thursday. It comes after a Senate committee rejected a House-passed bill to legalize cannabis with state-run stores.
The senators described the basic framework they’re proposing in a cosponsorship memo in February. The measure as introduced is also supported by four other senators, all Democrats.
“Adults should have the freedom to use cannabis responsibly, and Pennsylvania should have a legal system in place that ensures safety, accountability and fairness,” Laughlin said in a press release on Thursday. “This legislation delivers that while keeping marijuana out of the hands of kids.”
“This bill is smart, fair and realistic,” he said. “It’s time Pennsylvania joined the growing number of states that are getting cannabis policy right.”
Street said that the legislation “legalizes cannabis in a way that lifts up communities impacted by prohibition.”
“It includes expungement of low-level offenses, creates real opportunities for small and minority-owned businesses and reinvests in neighborhoods most harmed by past enforcement,” he said. “This is about justice, jobs and responsible regulation. We’re proud to lead the way forward.”
The memo the senators circulated earlier this year points out the economic opportunity of enacting a regulated and taxed system of marijuana sales—benefits that they note are already being reaped in surrounding states that have moved to legalize.
Here’s the summary of the new bill:
“An Act providing for cannabis; regulating the personal use and possession of cannabis; establishing the Cannabis Control Board; providing for powers and duties of the Cannabis Control Board; establishing the Cannabis Regulation Fund; providing for disproportionately impacted area, for regulation of cannabis business establishments, for enforcement and immunities, for laboratory testing, for advertising, marketing, packaging and labeling and for preparation, destruction and regulation of cannabis, edible and infused products; imposing a sales tax and excise tax on cannabis, edible and infused products; establishing the Cannabis Regulation Fund; providing for cannabis clean slate and for miscellaneous provisions; imposing penalties; consolidating provisions relating to medical use of cannabis; transferring powers and duties of the Department of Health to the Cannabis Control Board; and making repeals.”
The Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition (PCC) cheered the introduction of the legislation.
Meredith Buettner Schneider, executive director of PCC, said “Senate Bill 120 represents a transformative step for Pennsylvania’s cannabis policy.”
“The bill responsibly legalizes adult use, ensures equitable access, and strengthens patient protections—laying the foundation for a safe, inclusive, and well-regulated marketplace. It offers a comprehensive framework to end cannabis prohibition while prioritizing public safety, economic opportunity, and community investment,” she said. “These proposals are poised to create thousands of jobs, generate significant tax revenue, and reinvest in Pennsylvania’s small businesses, farming communities, law enforcement, and other critical public needs.”
Brit Crampsie with Responsible PA said legalizing cannabis “is no longer just a smart option—it’s a fiscal and moral necessity.”
“With a viable, bipartisan bill on the table, there is no excuse for further delay. Pennsylvania is staring down a massive budget shortfall, and this legislation offers a real solution: new revenue, safer communities, support for small businesses, and long-overdue justice,” she said. “Lawmakers must act now—our economy, our communities, and our future can’t afford to wait.”
Meanwhile, Laughlin and 16 other lawmakers recently filed a separate bill to create a new regulatory body in the state that would begin overseeing medical cannabis while preparing to eventually handle the adult-use market as well.
Laughlin previewed the measure in May, writing that Pennsylvania should first take steps to make sure the state is “ready to act when legalization becomes law” by establishing a Cannabis Control Board (CCB) now.
Street, who is also one of the original cosponsors of the bill, said recently that he was working with bipartisan and bicameral lawmakers to develop a passable marijuana legalization measure as the legislature approached a budget deadline—telling supporters at the time that “we’re getting close” and they shouldn’t “ease up” on the fight.
“There are some basic things that we know we need to have done,” he said. “We need to make sure when we pass a recreational adult-use bill that we seal and expunge the records of all those people who’ve been who’ve had cannabis convictions in the past.”
Street thanked his bipartisan colleagues in the House—including Reps. Emily Kinkead (D), Abby Major (R) and Amen Brown (D), who have championed their own legalization proposals—for working with the Senate “in a collaborative way.”
“We have a good core group of us who’ve been working to move this bill—to move this concept forward—and I think we’re gonna get it done,” he said. “We need your voices to stay engaged. We need to stay involved.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) previewed that marijuana legalization would not be included in the 2026 budget as lawmakers approached the deadline he expected they would miss. Ahead of the deadline, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) held out hope that negotiators can “get it done.”
“We’ve had really good, honest dialogue about it,” the governor, who separately criticized the Senate for abruptly derailing the House marijuana legalization bill, said.
“Look, I think this is an issue of competitiveness,” he said. “Every state around us, with the exception of West Virginia, has gotten it done. You go visit some of these dispensaries along our border—in this case with Maryland, [that] is probably the closest one here. Sixty percent of the people walking into those dispensaries are from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Also, in May, Sen. Marty Flynn (D) announced his intent to file a new bill to legalize marijuana in the state, calling on colleagues to join him on the measure.
While the House legislation Krajewski sponsored alongside Rep. Dan Frankel (D) was rejected in a Senate committee following its expedited passage through the House along party lines, Street said he’s “cautiously optimistic we’re going to be able to revive the bill and amend it and move forward with a work product that allows us to get a bill on the governor’s desk and realize revenue.”
Following the Senate committee vote, lawmakers from both chambers who support legalization have been trading criticisms about each other’s roles in the stalled push to end prohibition.
Krajewski, for example, recently wrote in a Marijuana Moment op-ed that Senate Republicans who killed his House-passed cannabis legalization bill are “stuck in their prohibitionist views of the past” and are “out of touch with the will of our Commonwealth.”
Prior to that vote, Pennsylvania’s Republican attorney general said that while he doesn’t currently support the House-passed marijuana legalization bill, he’s open to changing his mind about the policy change after continuing to review the details.
For what it’s worth, a recent poll found that Pennsylvania voters say they favor a model where cannabis is sold by licensed private businesses, rather than through a system of state-run stores.
The governor has repeatedly called for adult-use marijuana legalization. However, he hasn’t endorsed the specific idea of having a state-controlled model.
GOP lawmaker Major—who is sponsoring another forthcoming legalization bill that envisions a traditional private sales model alongside Democrat Kinkead—said during the House floor debate on HB 1200 that she stands opposed to the competing bill, emphasizing that she disagrees with the state-run stores proposal.
While Democrats control the House and governor’s office, they will still need to reach a deal with the GOP-controlled Senate to effectuate change. And in addition to the conflicting perspectives among pro-legalization legislators, another potential barrier to reform is exactly that political dynamic.
Regardless of which direction Pennsylvania lawmakers do—or don’t—go on marijuana legalization this session, a survey released in April shows a majority of adults in the state support the reform—and opposition to the policy change has fallen by nearly 50 percent over the last decade.
Kinkead has made the case in another recent interview that legalizing cannabis in Pennsylvania will help the state mitigate public health and safety concerns associated with the illicit market, including the fact that unregulated products can be laced with fentanyl.
The lawmaker previously introduced a separate bipartisan marijuana legalization bill, alongside 15 other cosponsors, last September. It did not advance, however.
Meanwhile, Laughlin recently called for the creation of a state “legacy” fund, using tax revenue from adult-use marijuana sales and gaming to make long-term investments in the Commonwealth’s economy.
The senator argued that, beyond using any resulting tax revenue to fund day-to-day projects and public services, the state should earmark a portion of those tax dollars for a fund to “provide a sustainable source of prosperity that lasts for generations.”
Another GOP Pennsylvania senator, Sen. Gene Yaw (R), is backing the push to legalize marijuana in the commonwealth, pointing out that, historically, prohibition “has not turned out well,” noting the country’s experience with alcohol criminalization.
Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) recently said that Democrats are ready to pass a marijuana legalization bill this session, but that the party “will need Republican support” to get the job done—adding that it will be a “heavy lift.”
Polls have shown bipartisan support for legalization among voters, but the reform has consistently stalled in the legislature, owing in large part to GOP opposition. But not all Republican members are against the policy change—and one recently said she felt her party should seize the “opportunity to snatch” the issue from Democrats.
Separately in March, the Pennsylvania House approved a bill sponsored by Frankel that’s meant to strengthen safety standards and oversight of the state’s medical marijuana program as lawmakers work to advance adult-use legalization.
While Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program was enacted nearly a decade ago, lawmakers say the measure, which now heads to the Senate, is necessary to improve testing compliance, product audits and lab inspections, among other aspects of the industry.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Democratic lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would allow farmers and other small agriculture operators to sell marijuana they cultivate to existing growers and and processors if the state moves to legalize adult-use cannabis.
Separately, an independent Pennsylvania agency is projecting more tax dollars to be generated from adult-use marijuana sales compared to what the governor’s office has estimated, although it expects significantly less overall revenue from cannabis legalization due to differing views on licensing fees.
Pennsylvania officials have also launched a new survey that invites legal marijuana businesses across the country to provide information about their operations to help the state better understand the cannabis industry as lawmakers consider enacting adult-use legalization this session.
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Also, in a video interview released in March, the governor emphasized that the state is “losing out” to others that have already enacted adult-use legalization, while maintaining a policy that’s enriched the illicit market.
“I think it’s an issue of freedom and liberty. I mean, if folks want to smoke, they should be able to do so in a safe and legal way,” he said. “We should shut down the black market—and, by the way, every state around us is doing it. Pennsylvanians are driving to those other states and paying taxes in those other states.”
The state’s agriculture secretary separately told lawmakers that he’s fully confident that his department is in a “really good” position to oversee an adult-use marijuana program if lawmakers act.
Meanwhile, in February, top Pennsylvania police and health officials told lawmakers they are prepared to implement marijuana legalization if the legislature moves forward with the reform—and that they stand ready to work together as the details of legislation to achieve it are crafted.
Amid the growing calls for marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, a GOP state senator said prohibition has been a “disaster,” and a regulated sales model for cannabis—similar to how alcohol and tobacco are handled—could serve as an effective alternative.
A Republican Pennsylvania senator also recently defended the push to legalize and regulate marijuana, calling it “the most conservative stance” on the issue.
