Leach bill would legalize recreational marijuana in Pa.
Democratic state Sens. Daylin Leach and Sharif Street want Pennsylvania to turn over a new leaf—a marijuana leaf, that is. They’ve introduced a bill (SB 350) that would legalize marijuana use for adults 21 and older.
Leach, D-17 of Lower Merion, who is also the architect of the medical marijuana law, has proposed marijuana bills in the past. But the political climate might be more hospitable now as Gov. Tom Wolf has come out in favor of legalization and some polls show 60 percent of Pennsylvanians are also on board.
“Pennsylvania’s cannabis policy is cruel, irrational and expensive,” Leach said in a statement. “Prohibition has destroyed countless lives and has cost taxpayers millions.
“We need to stop arresting our kids and funding violent drug cartels,” he added. “This is going to be a tough battle, but so was passing medical marijuana. We did that, and we’ll do this too. The stakes are too high for us to fail.”
Leach spent the last year meeting talking with stakeholders, constituents, local government officials and his colleagues in the General Assembly. The new bill no longer uses the state’s liquor stores as Pennsylvania’s method to dispense cannabis, as did another bill from state Rep. Dave Delloso, D-162 of Ridley Township.
The new bill, which seems to cover every aspect from soup to nuts, emphasizes healing the damage caused by marijuana prohibition and also ensuring that anyone can participate in the new industry.
If enacted, it would establish a system of permits for industry participants with low barriers to entry in order to allow people with limited resources to take part the cannabis business.
It also provides for automatic expungement of previous criminal convictions, dismissal of pending charges, and commutation of cannabis-related sentences. Leach said it would be up to district attorneys to go through their records and expunge those charges from defendants’ records.
The tax revenue that would be garnered if the bill becomes law is an estimated $500 million in the first full fiscal year of operation. That windfall would be appropriated to school districts using the 2016 fair funding formula (Act 35). School districts have total discretion over the funding; they may choose to invest in their schools, hire more teachers, or provide tax relief to homeowners in their districts.
Home delivery of cannabis would be permitted, as would growing up to 10 plants for personal use. The bill’s language allows deliverers, who may start their own company or work for dispensaries, to use any form of transportation from cars to bicycles to public transportation to deliver cannabis.
Leach said that some of the tax revenue from recreational marijuana would go to administration, classes for people who want to learn the industry and also for programs to help those who become dependent on the drug.
“We don’t believe it is physically addictive,” said Leach in a phone interview. While people can become dependent on it and need help to wean themselves off it, it does not produce conditions like delirium tremors that alcoholics who stop drinking can suffer, he said.
Asked about driving under the influence of marijuana, Leach said would remain illegal. But, he said, better tests are needed because compounds can remain in a person’s blood for up to a month but they are not impaired at that point.
“There are a number of companies working on an accurate breath test that should be available,” he said.
As for use by minors, Leach downplayed that issue.
“One of the many, many bad points about prohibition is, it doesn’t work,” said Leach. “In high school it’s easier to get marijuana than alcohol.”
Also, there will be less of an economic incentive to be a drug dealer.
“There isn’t some guy in the men’s room of the high school selling bottles of booze under a trench coat,” Leach said. “The other related ancillary benefit, the teenage use rate actually goes down when it’s legalized. It’s actually not that cool when it’s legal. We think the rate of use under a legal regime will be less.”
Asked about whether this will cut into the profit for medical marijuana, Leach said, he did not think it would.
“Some advantages to medical market, the tax rate is much less,” said Leach.
“So the same product is much cheaper. We’re hoping some changes in a medical marijuana law moving through Congress will allow health insurance cover medical marijuana,” he said. “And a lot of the medical marijuana is very specific strains. A lot of the forms are non-intoxicating and would not compete with recreational marijuana.” Not everyone is on board with this idea to legalize weed.
State Rep. Todd Stephens, R-151 of Montgomery County, supported the medical marijuana law but thinks the state should tap the brakes on legalization of pot for recreational use. He pointed out that there is still a conflict with federal law, that he gets many questions from law enforcement regarding driving under the influence of medical marijuana and that the medical marijuana law required research as to its health effects, which has not yet yielded results.
“Lastly, I’m very much concerned about the effects on children,” he said. “The problem is some data shows once you normalize things for adults, children are more likely to utilize them. I am very much concerned about the use of marijuana by children with young, still forming brains … I just think we have to be very careful and very deliberate.”
However, as could be expected, various marijuana proponent groups have come out in favor of SB 350, including the Keystone Cannabis Coalition, Lehigh Valley NORML, Pittsburgh NORML, All Together Now PA, Pennsylvania Cannabis Festival and Women Grow Philly.
“We really like the bill and are very much in favor of it,” said Skip Shuda of Soulful Cannabis in Media. It does have some restrictions that he’d like to remove like individuals who want to grow it for personal use will need to register and have a permit. But the bill also has a “social-justice component,” he likes. And it has a low bar for entrepreneurs to participate, while the medical marijuana industry required a large capital investment to start up.
“A healthy plant deserves a healthy industry,” Shuda said. “We like the open-market approach.”