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A Pennsylvania Senate committee has approved a bill to create a new Cannabis Control Board<\/a> (CCB) to oversee the state\u2019s medical marijuana program and intoxicating hemp products\u2014for the third time, with new amendments. The body could also one day oversee recreational cannabis if it is legalized in the state.<\/p>\n The Senate Law & Justice Committee voted 7-4 on Monday to advance the legislation back to the floor for consideration. The panel had previously done so in March and, before that, in October\u2014but its sponsor Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), who is also the committee\u2019s chair, has repeatedly brought the measure back to be altered.<\/p>\n This time, senators adopted two amendments to the bill.<\/p>\n One amendment, from Laughlin, specifies that the three members of the CCB who would be appointed by the governor would need to have certain backgrounds\u2014one with law enforcement experience, another with expertise in dealing with addiction and a third with experience in \u201ccannabis matters.\u201d<\/p>\n Laughlin\u2019s amendment also specifies that nothing in the bill \u201cshall be construed to allow the board to authorize the sale of recreational marijuana absent approval by the General Assembly,\u201d and additionally makes technical changes to the legislation.<\/p>\n For too long, intoxicating hemp products, or \u2018gas station weed,\u2019 have been sold with virtually no oversight and far too few safeguards. Moving this bill out of committee puts us on the path to finally bringing order and accountability to this space. pic.twitter.com\/DlaHjXxPK3<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Senator Dan Laughlin (@senatorlaughlin) May 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n A separate amendment from Sen. Devlin Robinson (R) was also adopted by the committee. It specifies that regulators could award additional dispensary permits to companies that were medical cannabis grower\/processors prior to April 12, 2024 and that meet other conditions.<\/p>\n Previously, in March, the panel\u00a0amended the cannabis regulation bill\u00a0to add new provisions banning the sale of most hemp THC products<\/a> to align state law with a pending federal policy change that\u2019s set to take effect in November.<\/p>\n \u201cFor too long, intoxicating hemp products, or \u2018gas station weed,\u2019 have been sold with virtually no oversight and far too few safeguards,\u201d Laughlin said in a social media post on Monday. \u201cMoving this bill out of committee puts us on the path to finally bringing order and accountability to this space.\u201d<\/p>\n In a separate post, the senator criticized Democrats on the panel who are cosponsoring the bill but voted against it.<\/p>\n Kinda weird that we moved my Cannabis Control Board bill out of committee today, and all 4 democratic cosponsors of the bill voted no.<\/p>\n \u2014 Dan Laughlin (@VoteLaughlin) May 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Its not clear why those lawmakers voted the way they did, but the action on the cannabis regulatory bill, SB 49<\/a>, comes amid a partisan dispute in the state over broader marijuana legalization.<\/p>\n Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) has repeatedly called on lawmakers to send him a marijuana legalization bill and for the last several years has included the reform in his budget requests to the legislature<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stacy Garrity, a Republican who is running for governor and who currently serves as the state treasurer, recently said she would veto a cannabis legalization bill if lawmakers approved one<\/a>\u2014though she also shared her view that the legislature is \u201cnever going to pass it\u2026not as long as Senate Republicans are in control of the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, the Democratic-controlled Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed budget legislation proposed by Shapiro that relies on revenue that would be generated from recreational marijuana sales<\/a>, which has yet to be legalized in the state.<\/p>\n The House of Representatives last year passed a\u00a0bill to legalize marijuana and put sales in state-owned dispensaries<\/a>, but the Republican Senate majority has criticized that plan while also\u00a0not advancing a cannabis legalization model of its own<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 A spokesperson in the governor\u2019s office separately said last month that the Trump administration\u2019s federal marijuana rescheduling move is an\u00a0\u201cimportant step\u201d that \u201cadds support\u201d to his push to legalize cannabis in the state<\/a>.<\/p>\n The\u00a0governor also used last month\u2019s unofficial cannabis holiday 4\/20<\/a>\u00a0as an opportunity to press lawmakers once again to send him a bill to legalize marijuana.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the CCB established by the bill that is now advancing in the Senate would regulate medical cannabis and hemp, while preparing to eventually handle the adult-use marijuana market as well if that reform is ultimately enacted.<\/p>\n Laughlin, who is also sponsoring bipartisan legislation to legalize adult-use marijuana<\/a> previewed the regulatory measure last May, writing that Pennsylvania should take initial steps to make sure the state is \u201cready to act when legalization becomes law\u201d<\/a> by establishing a CCB now.<\/p>\n In a cosponsorship memo circulated last year, Laughlin said his bill would \u201ctransfer regulatory control of the Medical Marijuana Program to the CCB, ensuring continuity, efficiency, and improved oversight of medical cannabis businesses and patient access.\u201d It would further \u201cestablish uniform safety standards to protect consumers from untested and potentially harmful products.\u201d<\/p>\n The original bill text itself also doesn\u2019t contain an explicit references to adult-use, or recreational, marijuana, and it would not enact legalization on its own. But the description indicates that the sponsors feel the current regulatory regime under the Pennsylvania Department of Health should be replaced with a more targeted agency that would ostensibly be suited to oversee an adult-use market if lawmakers move to end prohibition.<\/p>\n \u201cBy consolidating oversight under a single regulatory board, we can eliminate inconsistencies, enhance transparency, and provide the structure needed to responsibly manage this industry,\u201d the memo says.<\/p>\n Separately last month, the House Health Committee approved a bill to\u00a0allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in hospitals<\/a>\u00a0and other healthcare facilities<\/p>\n The legislative developments come as a recent\u00a0poll shows that seven out of ten Pennsylvania likely voters support legalizing adult-use marijuana<\/a>\u2014including majority backing for the reform across party lines.<\/p>\n When asked whether they \u201csupport or oppose the regulation and taxation of legal cannabis for use by adults 21 and older in Pennsylvania,\u201d 69 percent of respondents said yes. Support was strongest from Democrats, at 72 percent, but also includes 67 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of independents.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0Shapiro is continuing to pressure on lawmakers to send him a bill to legalize marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in the state, saying that doing so would generate new revenue that could be invested in key programs.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile some in Harrisburg claim we can\u2019t afford to make bigger investments in our kids, public safety, and our economy, know this: If we legalized and regulated adult-use cannabis, we\u2019d bring in $1.3 BILLION in revenue for our Commonwealth over the first five years,\u201d the governor said in another recent social media post.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are dollars that can be invested back into our people and our communities,\u201d he said. \u201cStop with the excuses. Let\u2019s get this done.\u201d<\/p>\n The state\u2019s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) reported in February that\u00a0legalizing cannabis in Pennsylvania would generate nearly half a billion dollars in annual revenue<\/a>\u00a0by 2028, an estimate that is a significantly larger cash windfall compared to projections from Shapiro\u2019s own office.<\/p>\n With a proposed 20 percent wholesale cannabis excise tax, 6 percent state sales tax for retail and licensing fees, IFO said the governor\u2019s legalization plan would generate $140 million in tax revenue in the first year of implementation from 2027-2028 and increase to $432 million by 2030-2031.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a much higher revenue estimate than\u00a0what the governor\u2019s office put forward in the latest executive budget. According to his office\u2019s analysis, legalization would generate about $36.9 million in tax dollars in its first year from a 20 percent wholesale tax on marijuana\u2014rising gradually to $223.8 million by 2030-2031.<\/p>\n In February, a coalition of drug policy and civil liberties organizations urged Shapiro to play a leadership role in\u00a0convening legislative leaders to get the job done on cannabis legalization this session<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Pennsylvania Senate Panel Approves Bill To Regulate Marijuana And Hemp, With New Amendments<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A Pennsylvania Senate committee has approved a bill to create a new Cannabis Control Board (CCB) to oversee the state\u2019s medical marijuana program and intoxicating hemp products\u2014for the third time, with new amendments. The body could also one day oversee recreational cannabis if it is legalized in the state. TheContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":85973,"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\/85972"}],"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\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85974,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85972\/revisions\/85974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
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\nRead More: Pennsylvania Senate Panel Approves Bill To Regulate Marijuana And Hemp, With New Amendments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"