This article is shared with LebTown by content partner Spotlight PA.
By Sarah Anne Hughes of Spotlight PA
New Jersey. New York. Virginia.
One by one, Pennsylvaniaโs neighbors are moving to legalize recreational cannabis for adults. Thereโs majority support for doing the same thing here: A March poll from Franklin & Marshall College showed 59% support among registered voters for legalization.
And after years of saying he wouldnโt endorse such a move, Gov. Tom Wolf changed his position in 2019 and has committed to signing a bill if it reaches his desk.
But in order for that to happen, the idea would need to gain backing among the Republican lawmakers who control both the state House and Senate.
House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster) opposed medical cannabis when it passed in 2016 and said in 2019 that legalization wasnโt the โright move in helping the thousands of Pennsylvanians who are battling drug addiction.โ
More recently Cutlerโs chief of staff told PennLive it wasnโt a priority, as the state continued to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, while a spokesperson for House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R,., Centre) told the York Daily Record in February there isnโt support within the caucus.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R., Centre) in 2018 called the idea โreckless and irresponsible,โ though last fall he signaled the chamber was open to vetting a proposal โ but not at that time.
Democrats in the chamber, as they have in past sessions, are still pushing for legalization, but with one major difference this spring โ a Republican sponsor.
That lawmaker is Sen. Dan Laughlin of Erie County. When asked by Spotlight PA why he thinks Pennsylvania hasnโt moved toward legalization, he said many of his colleagues represent districts that donโt support recreational cannabis.
โSo, you know, I donโt hold it against any fellow Republicans for not wanting to just jump out of the gate and co-sponsor the bill, because, for the most part, I think theyโre trying to represent their districts,โ Laughlin said.
A report based on observations and anecdotes from Lt. Gov. John Fettermanโs 2019 listening tour of Pennsylvaniaโs 67 counties found that people were concerned about โan increase of people driving under the influence.โ One working paper by a group of economists found that fatal crashes involving a driver who tested positive for THC had increased nationwide but did not appear to be related to legalization.
People, according to Fettermanโs report, were also concerned about โcannabis acting as a โgatewayโ drug.โ Thatโs a long-standing anxiety and complex topic. While some people who use cannabis may also use other drugs, there isnโt definitive proof that cannabis is the cause.
The issue is simple to Tsehaitu Abye, a cannabis entrepreneur and founder of Philadelphiaโs Black Dragon Breakfast Club, a cannabis marketing firm: Once the financial scales tip in favor of legalization โ rather than the industries that oppose it โ it will happen.
Laughlin said revenue is at the โbottom of my listโ of good reasons to support legalization, but there is a significant amount of money at stake: up to $581 million a year in revenue, per a 2018 auditor general report, though the conservative Commonwealth Foundation believes $120 million is a โmore realisticโ estimate.
Even more important is the issue of equity. In Pennsylvania, Black people represented 32% of cannabis-related arrests in 2020, but make up just 12% of the stateโs population, research from the pro-cannabis group NORML shows.
Tauhid Chappell โ a cannabis patient, journalist, and founder of the CannAtlantic Cannabis Conference โ said he believes Republican control is the main factor preventing legalization.
โBut we also need way more public advocacy particularly from Black and brown-led organizations that need to lead all conversations around equity, access, and reparations as it pertains to legalizing the plant and ensuring tax revenues are earmarked and directly invested in communities that have been directly harmed by over-policing, divestment, and poverty,โ Chappell said by email.
โThe legislature must move beyond the dollar sign and toward reconciliation and harm that has long burdened Black and brown communities.โ
Laughlin said his bill, which he co-introduced with Sen. Sharif Street (D., Philadelphia), was written with equity in mind.
โWe took great pains to make sure that small entrepreneurs can become involved in growing, processing, and distributing,โ he said. โA lot of it is aimed at helping communities of color, folks that have been disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs, to be able to get into this business.โ
At the moment, the bill is awaiting a committee assignment. Once that happens, Laughlin said he and Street plan to hold public hearings. He emphasized that โpublic sentimentโ is ultimately the reason why proposals become unstuck in the legislature.
Abye said she founded a public-facing cannabis business to serve as a trusted messenger and sounding board for peopleโs concerns, as well as to challenge perceptions.
โWe need more voices,โ she said.
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