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As bills to decriminalize marijuana languish in the Pennsylvania legislature, a new poll finds that a majority of voters in the state support an even more expansive proposal to end criminalization of all currently illicit drugs.<\/p>\n
The survey, conducted by Data for Progress and released on Thursday, found that 60 percent of voters are in favor of having their district attorneys eliminate \u201ccriminal penalties for simple possession of a controlled substance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Via Data For Progress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Yet despite that support<\/a>, two<\/a> bills<\/a> to decriminalize cannabis alone that were introduced in the GOP-controlled House and Senate in January have yet to receive hearings in the committees to which they were referred.<\/p>\n Oregon voters elected to decriminalize all drugs last November, and the Clackamas County District Attorney\u2019s Office announced shortly thereafter that prosecutors will no longer pursue low-level drug possession cases<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Pennsylvania poll<\/a>, which was first reported by The Appeal and pegged to Tuesday\u2019s district attorney elections in 17 counties, involved interviews with 632 likely voters from April 30-May 5.<\/p>\n Support for decriminalization is strongest among Democrats, with 71 percent on board. Sixty-eight percent of independents back the policy reform, while only 43 percent of Republicans agree.<\/p>\n Marijuana legalization is also popular among Pennsylvanians<\/a>\u2014including the governor and lieutenant governor\u2014with 58 percent of residents saying they favor ending cannabis prohibition in a separate survey released last month.<\/p>\n But again, the reform has failed to advance, with one Democrat-led bill having simply been referred to committee.<\/p>\n That said, a bipartisan Senate duo is currently crafting legislation to legalize cannabis across the commonwealth. Sens. Dan Laughlin (R) and Sharif Street (D) announced some details of the proposal earlier this year<\/a>, but the bill has yet to be formally introduced.<\/p>\n Outside the legislature, Gov. Tom Wolf (D)\u00a0said earlier this year that marijuana legalization was a priority<\/a>\u00a0as he negotiated the annual budget with lawmakers, however, his formal spending request doesn\u2019t contain legislative language to actually accomplish the cannabis policy change.<\/p>\n The governor has repeatedly called for legalization and\u00a0pressured the Republican-controlled legislature to pursue the reform<\/a>\u00a0since\u00a0coming out in favor of the policy in 2019<\/a>. Shortly after he did that,\u00a0a lawmaker filed a bill to\u00a0legalize marijuana through a state-run model<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), meanwhile, has been vocal in his support of legalization.<\/p>\n Fetterman,\u00a0who is running for U.S. Senate<\/a>, previously led a\u00a0listening tour across the state<\/a>\u00a0to solicit public input on legalization. He\u2019s credited that effort with helping to move the governor toward embracing comprehensive reform. The lieutenant governor even\u00a0festooned his Capitol office<\/a>\u00a0with marijuana-themed decor.<\/p>\n The COVID-19 pandemic, and its financial fallout, have also given lawmakers a reason to consider legalization, which make tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue. A majority of Senate Democrats last July sent the governor a letter arguing that legislators should pursue the policy change<\/a>\u00a0in order to make up for revenue loss resulting pandemic, but it\u2019s not clear whether legalization could pass the state\u2019s GOP-controlled Senate.<\/p>\n Minnesota Lawmakers Approve Smokable Medical Marijuana As Broader Legalization Stalls<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Majority Of Pennsylvania Voters Support Drug Decriminalization, Poll Finds Amid Inaction On Marijuana Reform<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
As bills to decriminalize marijuana languish in the Pennsylvania legislature, a new poll finds that a majority of voters in the state support an even more expansive proposal to end criminalization of all currently illicit drugs. The survey, conducted by Data for Progress and released on Thursday, found that 60Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":47762,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47761"}],"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\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47763,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47761\/revisions\/47763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Majority Of Pennsylvania Voters Support Drug Decriminalization, Poll Finds Amid Inaction On Marijuana Reform<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"