With two weeks until the legislative session ends, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s plan to make the state see green through cannabis tax benefits has stagnated in the state house.
Reps. Aaron Kaufer (R-Luzerne) and Emily Kinkead (D-Allegheny) introduced House Bill 2500 on Sept. 19. It would create the state's first adult cannabis use program. Anyone 21 or older would be allowed to buy cannabis from distributors for medical or recreational use.
Shapiro and administration officials have estimated legalization could bring the state $250 million in tax revenue per year based on a 20% excise tax.
A report released in March by the state's Independent Fiscal Office suggested tax revenues could ramp up to $271 million by 2028-2029.
None of this can happen without action by state lawmakers, and that action does not appear imminent.
Kaufer, HB 2500's primary sponsor, is the only Republican among 18 sponsors. Since the bill was referred to the health committee in September, it has not moved in the legislature and will be effectively ‘dead’ on Nov. 30, the last day of the 2023-2024 session.
Multiple attempts to reach Kaufer for this story were unsuccessful. A representative from his office said during the last attempt that Kaufer did “not have much to say” on the bill as he is leaving office at the end of this year.
HB 2500 would only legalize adult cannabis use. The bill states it would create guidelines to monitor the labeling, packaging and advertising of products to ensure they are not targeted to minors.
Pennsylvania signed its medical marijuana program into law in 2016, and dispensing began in 2018. Non-medical use remains illegal, although Philadelphia and Pittsburgh did decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Shapiro's vision
If the bill were passed, it would follow Shapiro’s 2024-25 budget proposal to establish an adult cannabis program under the state Department of Agriculture and expunge records related to prior convictions.
In addition to generating tax revenue, the governor argued it would crack down on black market trafficking and make Pennsylvania more financially competitive with neighboring states , including Ohio, which have legalized adult use.
Shapiro defended his budget proposal during a Honesdale Main Street Matters stop in February, where he addressed his prior role in prosecuting possession as Pennsylvania's attorney general.
“Candidly, the thing I had to get over most, is that I am a father of four. And that I didn’t want to see my children … using marijuana. I didn’t want to see marijuana being in a place where it would be more readily accessible to young people across Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said in Honesdale. “And the reality is, the more I studied, the more I talked to experts, the more I talked to states that had legalized – our kids were more at risk of getting access to marijuana through the black market than through a regulated market.”
His budget pushed to allocate $5 million to restorative justice initiatives from adult use cannabis proceeds.
HB 2500 also would create a Cannabis Business Development Fund that would provide low or zero-interest rates to rural, minority, female and veteran-owned businesses.
Industry experts supportive
Experts in the cannabis industry are supportive of Pennsylvania’s attempt to legalize adult cannabis use.
Adam Goers, a senior vice president of The Cannabist Company, said Pennsylvania’s current medical cannabis system does not serve all patients who would benefit from medicinal use.
He argues adults 21 and older should be allowed to purchase cannabis as “over the counter medicine, like you might find in a Duane Reade or a Walgreens. And so for us, even as we talk about moving into legalized cannabis … we still consider it part of our medical mission.”
The Cannabist Company is a multi-state network of cannabis distributors. They have three Pennsylvania dispensaries: Allentown, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.
Pennsylvania’s bill cracks down on stigma related to cannabis use, he added. He applauded the bill’s proposal to institute protections from workplace discrimination for cannabis use. Across the company’s 16 markets, Goers said the average medical cannabis user does not fit societal expectations.
“You know, our average patient is … a 45-year-old woman, and that person, along with all the other demographic types, are using cannabis to help them with chronic pain or with epilepsy or with debilitating life conditions,” said Goers.
Goers said patients face “a lot of red tape” under the current system. Medical cannabis is not covered by insurance. Veterans who may use cannabis to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or related health issues may be concerned about losing their VA benefits. Gun owners may worry that a medical cannabis card could disqualify them from keeping their gun registration license.
While HB 2500 is not likely to pass in the final weeks of the legislative session, Goers is confident that similar legislation will pass in the future. He cited a 2023 Gallup poll that found that 70% of Americans believe marijuana should be legal, the highest support for cannabis use since 1969, when Gallup first started reporting on legalization.
“Voters in Pennsylvania, when they're voting for the legislature ... have a choice to make … politicians will be recognizing soon when over 70% of Americans are supportive of this … I encourage voters to ensure that their elected representatives [are] going to stand with where the overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians want this to go,” said Goers.
Pugh not in favor
What does Kaufer's successor think?
Republican Brenda Pugh defeated Democratic challenger Fern Leard in November's election to fill Kaufer's seat.
Although the proposal is aimed at adults, Pugh said in an interview with WVIA that she would not support any cannabis bills while in office, because she worries about the drug's effects on children.
She cited research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) that found that cannabis use negatively affects brain development in children and adolescents.
"Our children are guinea pigs," said Pugh. "Because until they can find out what the long-term effect is going to be on their little bodies and their brains developing, how do you make such a decision where you could be potentially harming our youth in the future?"
Pugh also criticized Shapiro's stance that cannabis legalization would bring Pennsylvania massive tax benefits.
"I don't think our children are worth making extra money to bail a state out," Pugh said. "I think we need to find other ways to find that revenue and to get our budget within order, while maintaining our schools and everything else without damaging our youth."
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