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As multiple Pennsylvania lawmakers introduce bills to legalize marijuana, support for the reform is at a record high, according to a new poll.<\/p>\n
The survey from Franklin & Marshall College found that 60 percent of Pennsylvania voters back adult-use legalization. That\u2019s the highest level of support for the issue since the firm started polling people about it in 2006.<\/p>\n
Back then, just 22 percent of voters said they favor legalizing cannabis. Support has nearly tripled in the years since.<\/p>\n
Interesting, for this latest survey<\/a> released on Thursday, the word \u201crecreational\u201d was added to the question for the first time. One might assume that including a word that carries some stigma would result in lower support, but it actually increased by one percentage point since the previous poll was conducted in March. That said, opposition also ticked up two percentage points while those saying they don\u2019t know how the feel about the issue dropped by the same margin.<\/p>\n The poll, which involved interview with 522 registered voters and was conducted d October 18-24, comes as legislators ramp up efforts to get legalization enacted in the state.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, a much-anticipated bipartisan Senate bill<\/a> to end prohibition in Pennsylvania that has been months in the making was formally introduced.<\/p>\n Sens. Dan Laughlin (R) and Sharif Street (D) unveiled the nearly 240-page legislation months after\u00a0first outlining some key details<\/a>\u00a0back in February.<\/p>\n Also this month, Rep. Amen Brown (D) announced his intent to file a reform bill<\/a>\u00a0that he\u2019ll be working on with\u00a0Sen. Mike Regan (R), who recently expressed his support for the policy change<\/a>.<\/p>\n A separate pair of state lawmakers\u2014Reps. Jake Wheatley (D) and Dan Frankel (D)\u2014 also formally unveiled a legalization bill they\u2019re proposing<\/a>.<\/p>\n While each measure generally seeks and end to marijuana criminalization by creating a regulated, commercial model for cannabis, there are some provisions that make each piece of legislation unique. For example, the proposals vary in how they would approach taxes, revenue and social equity.<\/p>\n \u2014 While these recent moves to enact reform in the GOP-controlled legislature are encouraging to advocates, a spokesperson for House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R) tempered expectations this month, telling The Philadelphia Inquirer that there\u2019s \u201cno significant support for the legalization of recreational marijuana in the House Republican caucus.\u201d<\/p>\n Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D),\u00a0who is running for U.S. Senate<\/a>, told Marijuana Moment in a recent phone interview that he\u2019s optimistic about the prospects of reform with these latest proposals, though he acknowledged that there may be disputes between legislators over how tax revenue should be distributed.<\/p>\n Gov. Tom Wolf (D), for his part, said that a bipartisan approach to legalization \u201cwould be a great thing. I think the time is right.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Philadelphia City Council has\u00a0placed a referendum on the local November ballot<\/a>\u00a0urging the state to enact legalization. The hope is that the local vote could further motivate the legislature to move ahead with legalization.<\/p>\n While broad cannabis legalization proposals have not moved forward in the Republican-led legislature, Pennsylvania senators heard testimony last month on\u00a0a bill to protect medical marijuana patients<\/a>\u00a0from being prosecuted under the state\u2019s \u201czero tolerance\u201d DUI laws.<\/p>\n Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R)\u00a0first introduced an earlier version<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0bill\u00a0in June 2020. She said at the time that the state needs to \u201censure that the legal use of this medicine does not give rise to a criminal conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n Months after the standalone reform legislation was introduced, the Pennsylvania House approved\u00a0a separate amendment that would enact the policy change<\/a>.<\/p>\n Separately this month, a bipartisan coalition of Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced a bill that\u2019s meant to promote research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms<\/a>\u00a0for mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n Outside the legislature, Wolf\u00a0said earlier this year that marijuana legalization was a priority<\/a>\u00a0as he negotiated the annual budget with lawmakers. However, his formal spending request didn\u2019t contain legislative language to actually accomplish the cannabis policy change.<\/p>\n Wolf, who signed\u00a0a medical cannabis expansion bill in June<\/a>, 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, a lawmaker filed a separate bill to\u00a0legalize marijuana through a state-run model<\/a>.<\/p>\n In May,\u00a0Wolf pardoned a doctor<\/a>\u00a0who was arrested, prosecuted and jailed for growing marijuana that he used to provide relief for his dying wife. That marked his\u00a096th pardon for people with cannabis convictions<\/a>\u00a0through the Expedited Review Program for Non-Violent Marijuana-Related Offenses that\u2019s being run by the Board of Pardons.<\/p>\n Maryland Lawmakers Discuss Expunging Marijuana Records As Part Of Legalization Plan For 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Support For Marijuana Legalization In Pennsylvania Hits Record High, New Poll Finds<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
As multiple Pennsylvania lawmakers introduce bills to legalize marijuana, support for the reform is at a record high, according to a new poll. The survey from Franklin & Marshall College found that 60 percent of Pennsylvania voters back adult-use legalization. That\u2019s the highest level of support for the issue sinceContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":50814,"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\/50813"}],"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=50813"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50815,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50813\/revisions\/50815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Support For Marijuana Legalization In Pennsylvania Hits Record High, New Poll Finds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"