Politics
Pennsylvania Officials Are Surveying Marijuana Businesses Across The U.S. As Lawmakers Consider Enacting Legalization This Session
Pennsylvania officials have 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.
As the Pennsylvania legislature again weighs various legalization proposals, the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA) is circulating the survey nationwide, with plans to conduct interviews with certain respondents to inform future policy making within the state.
CODE PA is “gathering insights from businesses in the cannabis, non-industrial hemp, and cannabinoid industries in states where adult-use cannabis is currently authorized,” it said in a notice. “This research is focused on understanding current industry perspectives, lessons learned and challenges.”
It added that the survey isn’t meant to be an avenue for businesses to “weigh in on legislation” that’s being actively debated in the Pennsylvania legislature. Rather, “it’s an opportunity to share your experience.”
Interested parties are asked to submit the short survey by May 11 to be considered for a more comprehensive interview.
“Our goal is to include a wide range of voices, including those from the hemp, cannabinoid, and marijuana industries (both medical and adult-use) from U.S. states where adult-use cannabis is authorized,” CODE PA said.
Meredith Buettner Schneider, executive director of the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, told Marijuana Moment on Wednesday that as the state again looks into adult-use marijuana legalization, “it’s critical that policymakers hear directly from those with real-world experience.”
“We encourage businesses in legal states to take part in this survey and help inform a smart, effective approach to legalization in the Commonwealth,” she said.
The agency’s project comes as new polling shows a majority of Pennsylvanians support legalizing marijuana—and opposition to the reform has fallen by nearly 50 percent over the last decade.
To that end, bipartisan Pennsylvania lawmakers recently asked their colleagues to join them on a forthcoming bill to legalize cannabis for adult use in the state.
In a cosponsorship memo, Reps. Emily Kinkead (D) and Abby Major (R) touted the state’s “robust” medical cannabis program—but pointed out that “all but one of our neighboring states have legalized recreational adult-use cannabis.”
Kinkead separately made the case in a 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, a Republican Pennsylvania senator 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.”
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.”
Another Democratic lawmaker said legislature is “substantially closer” to reaching a deal on marijuana legalization, and an initial vote on a bipartisan cannabis reform bill could come as early as this month.
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.
Rep. Rick Krajewski (D)—who announced in December his intent to file a legalization measure alongside House Health Committee Chair Dan Frankel (D)—also recently said the policy would provide for “more responsible usage” of cannabis, compared to the status quo that’s left adults either buying from the illicit market or traveling across state lines to get regulated products.
Separately last month, 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.
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Also, in a video interview released last month, 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.”
Pennsylvania’s Republican attorney general recently said he wants to be a “voice for potential public safety risks” of enacting the governor’s proposal—though he said his office would be ready to enforce the new law if lawmakers did vote to pass it.
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.
Separately, a recent poll shows 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 as some legislators have promoted.
Photo courtesy of Max Pixel.
