Laws on marijuana are changing drastically year to year, and it an be difficult to keep up. We wanted to make things simple, so we put together all of the most recent updates to the Pennsylvania Marijuana Laws. Take a closer look below.
Status: Mixed
Decriminalized: No
Medical: Yes
Governor of Pennsylvania Supports Legalization
The legalization and regulation of marijuana conversations are starting to build steam in Pennsylvania.
Between February and May or 2019, governor Fetterman went across the state to all 67 counties, and held a listening tour on the legalization of marijuana.
After his trip, he reported about 65% support for legalizing, and in September Governor Wolf came out and voiced his support.
Recently, Representative David Delloso introduced a bill that would legalize and regulate state-run dispensaries. These, unfortunately, aren’t viable due to the federal prohibition. Representative Wheatley, who also proposed a legalization bill last year, is expected to show his support.
As of now, there are still obstacles that need to be hurdled in order to pass a legalization bill. The House of Representatives in Pennsylvania quickly derided governor Wolfs support for legalization.
Don’t worry, hope still remains. Legislators and the public are evolving rapidly on cannabis legalization.
Progress Made on Decriminalization Bill
In October of 2018, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill reducing possession penalties for small amounts of marijuana.
The bill however, did not get a vote before the legislation ended in November of 2018. Now the 2019/2020 session is ongoing. Let your lawmakers know you want the decriminalization bill to pass.
It may be a couple of years before we see the legalization of marijuana in Pennsylvania, but until then they should stop arresting those who use cannabis.
The state may not have law on decriminalization, but the cities are starting to reduce their penalties for marijuana possession.
In March of 2019, Steelton officially decriminalized small possession amounts of cannabis. This joined the ever growing amount of cities that already decriminalized including Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, State College, York, Lancaster, Bethlehem, and Erie.
Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Begins Sales
In February 2018, the Keystone State made history, and opened their first dispensaries to sell state regulated medical marijuana. This was less than 2 years after the governor signed Act 16 into law.
Pennsylvania is on track to be one of the biggest medical marijuana programs in the country with 50 dispensaries open state wide, and many more anticipated.
In May of 2018, The Department of Health revised the regulations on medical marijuana making several much needed improvements.
Now all patients can access marijuana flower, and expanded the qualifying conditions list, including opiate addiction.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Pennsylvania Marijuana Laws.
