Lawmakers in Pennsylvania are proposing the legalization and sale of cannabis products through its state-controlled liquor store system.
The legislation would allow Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores, operated by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, to sell both liquor and legal-cannabis products. It would also expunge prior low-level cannabis convictions, and would permit individuals to cultivate up to six cannabis plants of their own.
Rep. David M. Delloso, the bill’s primary sponsor, said this proposed legislation would benefit and protect Pennsylvania as a whole.
“However, permitting private companies to sell cannabis in Pennsylvania could allow large corporations to take over the cannabis industry, putting profits before the well-being of our communities,” the legislation states. “For these reasons, my legislation will legalize adult use cannabis through the current state store system in order to ensure the safety and integrity of cannabis sales in Pennsylvania.”
Rep. Delloso said the state’s Liquor Control Board was not involved in authoring the legislation, NBC10 Philadelphia reports.
As noted in the legislation, legalizing adult-use cannabis in Pennsylvania could create a newly-legal industry worth $1.66 billion, according to a 2018 report by the Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene A. DePasquale.
“Assuming a roughly 35 percent tax rate on the potential $1.66 billion industry, Pennsylvania would receive about $581 million annually in revenue from the regulation and taxation of marijuana,” the report states.
In 2017, Pennsylvania spent approximately $46 million on 27,000 low-level cannabis possession arrests, according to the legislation.
The proposed legislation also notes that the state of Colorado has created more than 18,000 jobs since legalizing adult-use cannabis in 2012, and said Pennsylvania could reap similar benefits.
“Please join me in saving millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money while creating thousands of good jobs for hard-working Pennsylvanians by cosponsoring this legislation,” the bill text reads.
While adult-use cannabis is currently illegal in Pennsylvania, two-thirds (66 percent) of Pennsylvanians approve of legalization, according to a September 2022 poll from CBS News.
Medical marijuana, meanwhile, has been legal in Pennsylvania since April 2016.
