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After a Pennsylvania House-passed bill to legalize marijuana sales through state-run shops was defeated in the GOP-controlled Senate<\/a>, lawmakers from both chambers who support the reform are trading criticisms about each other\u2019s roles in the stalled push to end prohibition.<\/p>\n Rep. Dan Frankel (D)\u2014sponsor of the House measure alongside Rep. Rick Krajewski (D) that failed in the Senate Law and Justice Committee on Tuesday\u2014took a hit at Chairman Dan Laughlin (R) after his panel rejected the measure, saying \u201cRepublicans have had control of the Senate for 30 years, and the first time they bring up a cannabis legalization bill, it\u2019s to vote it down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe way this works is: House passes a bill, Senate passes a bill, chambers work together with [the governor] to sort out the best possible law,\u201d he said. \u201cCannabis is accessible and regulated, and PA communities benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n The comments were in response to a post on X by Laughlin, who supports cannabis legalization but said the state-run store model from Frankel wouldn\u2019t pass in the Senate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a fact, not an opinion. The House\u2019s advancement of HB 1200 to the Senate wasn\u2019t a genuine legalization effort but political theater,\u201d Laughlin said. \u201cI haven\u2019t received any discussions from House leadership or bill sponsors.\u201d<\/p>\n The way this works is: House passes a bill, Senate passes a bill, chambers work together with gov to sort out the best possible law. Cannabis is accessible and regulated, and PA communities benefit 😊<\/p>\n \u2014 State Rep. Dan Frankel (@RepDanFrankel) May 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI remain committed to crafting a cannabis bill that can pass the Senate and be signed into law to benefit all Pennsylvanians,\u201d he said. \u201cThat starts with honest dialogue from everyone involved, including House leadership and the governor, to develop a realistic approach, not political theater.\u201d<\/p>\n At the committee hearing on Tuesday, the senator said he \u201creally expected a little bit of back-and-forth discussions and work on these bills if we are going to truly put a product on the governor\u2019s desk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not going to get there with this model, at least,\u201d he said. \u201cThe state, acting as a buyer, will limit consumer choice and drive consumers out of state to neighboring legal markets like Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Ohio. The state will outsource significant revenues, similar to the dynamic experience that we now have with our alcohol system.\u201d<\/p>\n Laughlin, who has previously sponsored separate bipartisan legalization legislation, did not respond to a request for comment from Marijuana Moment about what he\u2019s done to proactively reach out to House leadership on a path forward for the reform.<\/p>\n Krajewski, meanwhile, said during a press conference following the House floor vote last week that, \u201cif the Senate was serious about passing a cannabis bill, they would have sent us one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut we sent a bill forward,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the Senate is serious about passing cannabis legislation, we now have a vehicle for which we can have negotiations about.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to the Senate panel\u2019s vote this week, Pennsylvania\u2019s Republican attorney general said that while he doesn\u2019t currently support the House-passed marijuana legalization bill, he\u2019s open to changing his mind about the policy change<\/a>\u00a0after continuing to review the details.<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, a recent poll found that Pennsylvania voters say they\u00a0favor a model where cannabis is sold by licensed private businesses<\/a>, rather than through a system of state-run stores.<\/p>\n The governor has repeatedly called for adult-use marijuana legalization<\/a>. However, he hasn\u2019t endorsed the specific idea of having a state-controlled model.<\/p>\n Rep. Abby Major (R)\u2014who is\u00a0sponsoring another forthcoming legalization bill<\/a>\u00a0that envisions a traditional private sales model alongside Rep. Emily Kinkead (D)\u2014said during the House floor debate on HB 1200 that she stands opposed to the competing bill, emphasizing that she disagrees with the state-run stores proposal.<\/p>\n While Democrats control the House and governor\u2019s office, they will still need to reach a deal with the GOP-controlled Senate to effectuate change. And in addition to the conflicting perspectives among pro-legalization legislators, another potential barrier to reform is exactly that political dynamic.<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) said that while he sees a \u201cpath forward\u201d for enacting regulations for separate gaming-related reform, \u201cI\u2019m not seeing consensus between the four caucuses and the governor collectively that [marijuana legalization] should be a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n Regardless of which direction Pennsylvania lawmakers do\u2014or don\u2019t\u2014go on marijuana legalization this session, a survey released in April shows\u00a0a majority of adults in the state support the reform<\/a>\u2014and opposition to the policy change has fallen by nearly 50 percent over the last decade.<\/p>\n Kinkead has made the case in another recent interview that legalizing cannabis in Pennsylvania will\u00a0help the state mitigate public health and safety concerns<\/a>\u00a0associated with the illicit market, including the fact that unregulated products can be laced with fentanyl.<\/p>\n The lawmaker\u00a0previously introduced a separate bipartisan marijuana legalization bill<\/a>, alongside 15 other cosponsors, last September. It did not advance, however.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Laughlin recently called for the\u00a0creation of a state \u201clegacy\u201d fund, using tax revenue from adult-use marijuana sales<\/a>\u00a0and gaming to make long-term investments in the Commonwealth\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n The senator argued that, beyond using any resulting tax revenue to fund day-to-day projects and public services, the state should earmark a portion of those tax dollars for a fund to \u201cprovide a sustainable source of prosperity that lasts for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n Another GOP Pennsylvania senator, Sen. Gene Yaw (R),\u00a0is backing the push to legalize marijuana in the commonwealth<\/a>, pointing out that, historically, prohibition \u201chas not turned out well,\u201d noting the country\u2019s experience with alcohol criminalization.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) recently said that\u00a0Democrats are ready to pass a marijuana legalization bill this session<\/a>, but that the party \u201cwill need Republican support\u201d to get the job done\u2014adding that it will be a \u201cheavy lift.\u201d<\/p>\n Polls have shown bipartisan support for legalization among voters, but the reform has consistently stalled in the legislature, owing in large part to GOP opposition. But not all Republican members are against the policy change\u2014and one recently said she felt her party should\u00a0seize the \u201copportunity to snatch\u201d the issue from Democrats<\/a>.<\/p>\n Separately in March, the Pennsylvania House approved a bill sponsored by Frankel that\u2019s meant to\u00a0strengthen safety standards and oversight of the state\u2019s medical marijuana program<\/a>\u00a0as lawmakers work to advance adult-use legalization.<\/p>\n While Pennsylvania\u2019s medical cannabis program was enacted nearly a decade ago, lawmakers say the measure, which now heads to the Senate, is necessary to improve testing compliance, product audits and lab inspections, among other aspects of the industry.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Democratic lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would allow farmers and other small agriculture operators to\u00a0sell marijuana they cultivate to existing growers and and processors<\/a>\u00a0if the state moves to legalize adult-use cannabis.<\/p>\n Separately, an independent Pennsylvania agency is\u00a0projecting more tax dollars to be generated from adult-use marijuana sales<\/a>\u00a0compared to what the governor\u2019s office has estimated, although it expects significantly less overall revenue from cannabis legalization due to differing views on licensing fees.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania officials have also launched a new survey that invites legal marijuana businesses across the country to provide information about their operations to help the state better understand the cannabis industry as lawmakers consider enacting adult-use legalization this session.<\/p>\n \u2014 Also, in a video interview released in March, the governor emphasized that\u00a0the state is \u201closing out\u201d to others that have already enacted adult-use legalization<\/a>, while maintaining a policy that\u2019s enriched the illicit market.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s an issue of freedom and liberty. I mean, if folks want to smoke, they should be able to do so in a safe and legal way,\u201d he said. \u201cWe should shut down the black market\u2014and, by the way, every state around us is doing it. Pennsylvanians are driving to those other states and paying taxes in those other states.\u201d<\/p>\n The state\u2019s agriculture secretary separately told lawmakers that he\u2019s fully confident that his department is in a\u00a0\u201creally good\u201d position to oversee an adult-use marijuana program<\/a>\u00a0if lawmakers act.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in February, top Pennsylvania police and health officials told lawmakers\u00a0they are prepared to implement marijuana legalization<\/a>\u00a0if the legislature moves forward with the reform\u2014and that they stand ready to work together as the details of legislation to achieve it are crafted.<\/p>\n Amid the growing calls for marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania,\u00a0a GOP state senator said prohibition has been a \u201cdisaster,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and a regulated sales model for cannabis\u2014similar to how alcohol and tobacco are handled\u2014could serve as an effective alternative.<\/p>\n A Republican Pennsylvania senator also recently\u00a0defended the push to legalize and regulate marijuana<\/a>, calling it \u201cthe most conservative stance\u201d on the issue.<\/p>\n Texas Lawmakers Pass Bills To Expand Medical Marijuana Program And Support Psychedelic Research<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The post Pennsylvania House And Senate Marijuana Legalization Supporters Blame One Another For Lack Of Coordination On Bill<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
After a Pennsylvania House-passed bill to legalize marijuana sales through state-run shops was defeated in the GOP-controlled Senate, lawmakers from both chambers who support the reform are trading criticisms about each other\u2019s roles in the stalled push to end prohibition. Rep. Dan Frankel (D)\u2014sponsor of the House measure alongside Rep.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":81217,"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\/81216"}],"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=81216"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81218,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81216\/revisions\/81218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
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\nRead More: Pennsylvania House And Senate Marijuana Legalization Supporters Blame One Another For Lack Of Coordination On Bill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"