Pennsylvania lawmakers researching a bill to legalize recreational marijuana received a barrage of information Tuesday during a spirited, two-hour hearing in West Philadelphia.
They heard testimony espousing their instituting automatic and retroactive mass expungement of cannabis convictions and keeping the state’s “white cartel” of medical marijuana firms’ executives from taking over the recreational market.
And there were calls to just legalize it already — from a medical marijuana patient who said he spent time in jail partly because of marijuana charges.
The House Democratic Policy Committee hearing, convened by State Rep. Amen Brown, and other meetings held in Harrisburg recently by the Republican-led Senate Law and Justice Committee highlighted the multitude of demands that lawmakers have to satisfy — criminal and economic justice, work-related and driver safety, and more — to get a legalization bill passed.
Brown, a West Philadelphia Democrat, said after the hearing that the bill he is proposing with State Sen. Mike Regan, a Republican from central Pennsylvania who attended Tuesday’s hearing in Philadelphia, solves many of those concerns. It’s uncertain when they will introduce that legislation or whether it stands any chance in the state House of Representatives, where Republican leaders remain steadfastly opposed to legalization. [Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer]
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Name *
Email *
Website
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Comment *
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
Δ
Saturday marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather — at 4:20 p.m. — in clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in legal-weed states thank…
The state budget that’s expected to be adopted in the coming days calls for repealing the potency tax on marijuana products as well as new regulations intended to give local municipalities, including…
SEATTLE (AP) — Saturday marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather — at 4:20 p.m. — in clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in…
Significant adjustments have been made to Connecticut House Bill No. 5150, the omnibus cannabis/hemp legislation that is waiting to be taken up by the full House. An amended version of…