Pennsylvania Democratic Lawmakers Make Another Push To Legalize Marijuana With State-Run Stores

Pennsylvania Democratic lawmakers are taking another swing at passing a bill to legalize marijuana with state-run stores, despite a different version of the proposal being soundly rejected in the GOP-controlled Senate after it passed the House earlier this session.

Rep. David Delloso (D) circulated a cosponsorship memo for the legislation on Tuesday, making the case that allowing private companies to sell cannabis could invite a corporate takeover of the industry that doesn’t serve the best interests of Pennsylvanian.

The memo starts by citing statistics about the financial toll of criminalizing tens of thousands of people over simple possession, with enforcement actions that disproportionately impact minority communities despite equitable rates of consumption across races.

Legalizing marijuana would help mitigate those costs and racial disparities, Delloso said. However, “permitting private companies to sell cannabis in Pennsylvania could allow large corporations to take over the cannabis industry, putting profits before the well-being of our communities,” he argued.

“For these reasons, my legislation will legalize adult use cannabis through the current state store system in order to ensure the safety and integrity of cannabis sales in Pennsylvania,” the memo says. “Additionally, this legislation would expunge low level cannabis convictions and permit individuals to grow up to six plants. This would in turn free law enforcement to focus on the other issues our communities face and would reduce the racial disparity in the criminal justice system related to cannabis convictions.”

The lawmaker asked colleagues to “join me in saving millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money while creating thousands of good jobs for hard-working Pennsylvanians by cosponsoring this legislation.”

The text of the bill, which currently has six Democratic cosponsors, is not yet available. But it’s designated as a new version of legislation Delloso filed last session that did not advance out of committee.

It’s unclear why the lawmakers are making a renewed attempt to pass a state-run marijuana store model given what happened with separate legislation filed this year that narrowly moved through the Democratic-controlled House only to be shelved at its first Senate committee stop.

The bill isn’t necessarily dead for the session as a vehicle to advance reform, however, and House Democrats recently called on voters to pressure state senators to sign off on the House-passed measure, arguing that it would benefit health and safety and bring in billions of dollars in revenue for the commonwealth.

While other legalization proposals have since been filed in the state—including from bipartisan lawmakers in both chambers—Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) and others have already signaled disinterest in the reform.

Polls have shown bipartisan support for legalization among voters, but the reform has consistently stalled in the legislature, due largely 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.

In addition to pushback from Senate Majority Leader Pittman, another Republican, Sen. Scott Martin, who chairs the influential Appropriations Committee, said earlier this month that he didn’t plan to move on any adult-use legalization bills.

Nevertheless, one Republican senator sponsoring a legalization proposal said last week that supporters in the legislature are “picking up votes.”

Sen. Dan Laughlin (R)—who has introduced a legalization bipartisan bill with Sen. Sharif Street (D)—said support is growing because “people would rather [legalize cannabis] than do a tax increase to try and balance a budget.”

Rep. Amen Brown (D) subsequently said he intended to file a House companion version of that measure, circulating a cosponsorship memo to colleagues earlier this month.

Separately, just days after Laughlin and Street filed their measure, Reps. Emily Kinkead (D) and Abby Major (R)—alongside eight other cosponsors—filed legislation in the House to enact the reform. The pair have previously championed other proposals to end prohibition.

Laughlin and 16 other lawmakers also 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.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Pittman indicated in June 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,” said the governor, who had criticized the Senate for abruptly derailing the House marijuana legalization bill.

“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.”

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.

Following the Senate committee vote that scuttled HB 1200, lawmakers from both chambers who support legalization have been trading criticisms about each other’s roles in the stalled push to end prohibition.

Bill sponsor 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.

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.

In recent comments to that matter, Krajewski told local news outlet Spotlight PA that for him to support a private model, he’d need a bill to include protections for small businesses to ensure large companies don’t dominate the market.

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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.

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.

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

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