Pennsylvania Rep. Jake Wheatley filed a bill, HB 50, on Monday that marks his second attempt to legalize recreational marijuana through the state legislature.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0bill<\/a>\u00a0would amend the state\u2019s\u00a0Medical Marijuana Act<\/a>, passed in 2016, and add adult-use protections. If the bill passes, anyone ages 21 and up will be allowed to consume and possess cannabis, as well as cultivate up to six plants, according to a\u00a0post<\/a>\u00a0from Wheatley\u2019s official Facebook page.<\/p>\n The bill will also \u201ccreate a framework for\u00a0social justice reform<\/a>\u00a0by expunging criminal records, exonerating anyone incarcerated for now-legal cannabis charges and returning driver\u2019s and professional licenses\u201d to anyone who had theirs confiscated as a result of cannabis-related crimes, per a\u00a0press release<\/a>\u00a0from Wheatley\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Wheatley\u2019s previous effort to legalize cannabis,\u00a0HB 2600<\/a>, died in the General Assembly\u2019s Health Committee last session. But Wheatley, who represents Pennsylvania\u2019s 19th district \u2014 including Pittsburgh \u2014 and chairs the House\u2019s Finance Committee, looks to ride the continuing turn of opinion in Pennsylvania in recent years, best evidenced by the support he\u2019s already received from HB 50\u2019s 25 cosponsors.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past decade, support for legalizing recreational cannabis has almost doubled to nearly 60 [percent] of all Commonwealth residents being in favor of legalization,\u201d said Wheatley\u00a0in a memo<\/a>\u00a0that called on his peers to cosponsor the bill. \u201cThe growth of medical cannabis has demonstrated the positive effects this industry is capable of achieving. House Bill 50 would not only implement the tax rates as suggested by the Auditor General\u2019s report, which would generate upward of $580 million in new tax revenue for the Commonwealth, it also\u2026 incentivizes cannabis businesses to partner with PA farmers, as well as invests in student debt forgiveness, after-school programs and affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n Wheatley told Cannabis Now over the phone about how he got the ball rolling on his latest legalization effort.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cAfter the\u00a0Auditor General\u2019s report<\/a>\u00a0on the potential for state tax revenue [released July 2018], and as we were contemplating what the budget situation was going to look like going into this year, we really started to get serious about it,\u201d Wheatley said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had always been looking at the issue, but the timing was never quite right,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut I think when Auditor General DePasquale came out with the potential for the state revenue, on top of what was happening nationally and around us in our\u00a0neighboring<\/a>\u00a0states<\/a>, I think it felt like the timing had emerged for the conversation to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Wheatley noted with a laugh that although he only had a dozen cosponsors last time around, this time he\u2019s kicking things off with more than double that number.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have talked to a number of our colleagues who are supportive of this idea,\u201d Wheatley said. \u201cThey say to us privately if it were up to a vote, they would support the vote, but they\u2019re still a little uneasy with being out front with it because they\u2019re not sure where their constituents are.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0Marijuana Policy Project<\/a>\u00a0also weighed in on the bill to Cannabis Now.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are encouraged by Rep. Wheatley\u2019s proposal to end the destructive and counterproductive policy of marijuana prohibition in the Keystone State and to replace it with a thoughtful system of taxation and regulation of cannabis for adults\u2019 use,\u201d said Karen O\u2019Keefe, MPP\u2019s director of state policies. \u201cHis proposal would put\u00a0equity<\/a>\u00a0at the forefront of legalization, expunging past convictions, releasing marijuana prisoners and creating a diverse industry. Instead of wasting tax dollars on derailing marijuana consumers\u2019 lives, cannabis would be legally sold and taxed, with the proceeds benefiting Pennsylvania communities.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the bill itself, the bulk of responsibilities for enforcement of HB 50 would fall on the Department of Education (to protect the kids), the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, who would impose penalties. And Wheatley\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0the state intends to use the tax revenue from legal marijuana to help alleviate student loan debt, fund affordable housing and create more afterschool programs for Pennsylvania\u2019s children.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/b>, do you think Pennsylvania will legalize cannabis?<\/p>\n The post Pennsylvania House Finance Chair Files New Cannabis Legalization Bill<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania Rep. Jake Wheatley filed a bill, HB 50, on Monday that marks his second attempt to legalize recreational marijuana through the state legislature. The\u00a0bill\u00a0would amend the state\u2019s\u00a0Medical Marijuana Act, passed in 2016, and add adult-use protections. If the bill passes, anyone ages 21 and up will be allowed toContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[363,50,7450,7451,285,4334,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32634,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32633\/revisions\/32634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Pennsylvania House Finance Chair Files New Cannabis Legalization Bill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"