Marijuana listening tour first phase of long road
Fetterman moderates legalization debate
One afternoon last week, Lt. Gov John Fetterman took his recreational marijuana listening tour to a college in Meadville, while, simultaneously, his boss took a few questions on Instagram about full legalization of the now-medicinal drug.
It’s almost enough to make you think weed for all — legal and decriminalized — is just around the corner in Pennsylvania. But stakeholders, including leaders in the Republican-controlled Legislature, say recreational marijuana shouldn’t be expected any time soon.
Legalization would require politicians and advocates to navigate a long road of partisan obstacles that can sometimes grind the process to a halt — best learned from the fight for medical marijuana, which took years to become law and happened only after there was a groundswell of public support and bipartisan buy-in from legislators.
Mr. Fetterman’s listening tour — a visit to all 67 of the state’s counties to hear from Pennsylvanians about their concerns and feelings regarding legal pot — could be considered the first step, and indeed comes at a time when public opinion is shifting favorably. In late 2017, 59 percent of Pennsylvania voters said they believe marijuana should be legal in a Franklin & Marshall poll. Only 22 percent supported it in the same poll in 2006.
But bipartisan buy-in is a long way away, and Republican leaders in the House or Senate say that not only are their caucuses not discussing the issue yet, it’s barely on their minds. There also isn’t much evidence yet that it’s on the minds of constituents or lobbyists, they say.
“I don’t see a major push within the building,” said Mike Straub, a spokesman for House Republicans, “and it’s not like the marijuana lobby is making its presence felt at every member’s door, in the way there was a strong push for medical marijuana where [advocates] wanted to make their stories felt.”
Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, when asked if he sees any momentum in his caucus on recreational marijuana, said that even the senator who has “sensitivity” to the issue — Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon — doesn’t think the time is right.
Mr. Folmer, who cosponsored the medical cannabis legislation that was signed into law in 2016, said that although recreational marijuana isn’t coming “any time soon,” it will come at some point down the road. By then, he said, Pennsylvania can be a leader in research on the medicinal side.
Pushing recreational marijuana too quickly, Mr. Folmer said, would only lend credence to the plant’s “Cheech and Chong” image, when for now, it should be viewed as one that has medicinal benefits.
“I know we pushed the envelope very hard for medicinal, because I believed patients’ lives were in trouble,” said Mr. Folmer, who was the Republican face of an otherwise Democraticled effort to legalize medicinal cannabis. “All those children I got to know ... they’re all doing really well right now. Let’s slow down on the [recreational] thing. Let’s look at getting medicinal up and running, understanding this plant, and then finally, trying to change the image of this plant.”
The only recreational pot legislation in either chamber was introduced in February by Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill District, whose bill would legalize marijuana for adult use and levy a tax on it that would be reinvested into affordable housing, student debt forgiveness and after-school programs — as well as to expunge criminal records.
Mr. Wheatley said it will take a lot of outside pressure from advocates to make legal weed a reality, but that he’s encouraged by the lieutenant governor’s listening tour.
“I think [Mr. Fetterman’s] listening tour is only adding to the evidence we’ve already suggested: that the time is now,” Mr. Wheatley said.
Mr. Wolf’s evolving rhetoric on the issue is also encouraging, Mr. Wheatley said — encouragement that has been shared by many legal pot advocates. From his first campaign for governor in 2014 to this past December, Mr. Wolf publicly favored decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, but said he didn’t think Pennsylvania was ready for a discussion on full legalization until stakeholders could study what other states experienced and until Pennsylvania could get medical marijuana right.
But even though it’s evolved, Mr. Wolf’s opinion on recreational weed hasn’t yet translated into advocacy. Though he recently called for a “serious” look at the issue, he stressed Thursday that his feeling toward it has changed only to the extent that the states around Pennsylvania have changed — with New York, New Jersey and Delaware all moving toward legalization.
For now, Mr. Wolf said he will await the results of Mr. Fetterman’s tour. At its conclusion, the lieutenant governor will send Mr. Wolf a report to review.
“This is a listening tour,
Legalization would require politicians and advocates to navigate a long road of partisan obstacles that can sometimes grind the process to a halt.
not a telling tour,” Mr.
Wolf said.
Though Mr. Corman said there’s nothing wrong with Mr. Fetterman soliciting feedback across the state, the Senate majority leader said the “right time” to talk about recreational marijuana would have been during the governor’s re-election campaign so voters could have weighed in.
But Mr. Fetterman’s election to lieutenant governor brought recreational marijuana advocacy into the upper echelon of state government. Though he consistently acknowledged his views would be subordinate to the governor’s, Mr. Fetterman said in a debate in 2018 that he thinks Pennsylvania should go “full Colorado.”
The listening tour so far, he said, has been uniformly civil and thoughtful, and has attracted supporters and detractors — though roll call votes at the end of each session have indicated more “yeas” than “nays.”
His role is only as a moderator, he said, and “there’s no guided discovery.” The first step in the process toward legal weed, he said, is to engage in a “good-faith effort” to listen, so he’s been personally inviting every local member of the Legislature to each of his stops.
“It’s no secret that we need our friends on the other side of the aisle to move forward, if we want to move forward,” Mr. Fetterman said.
So far, though, the discussion hasn’t been polarized in a “Cheech and Chong versus Reefer Madness” manner, Mr. Fetterman quipped, and detractors have almost always brought up valid concerns.
If the issue comes up in the Legislature, though likely not soon, revenue will surely be an important factor. Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has spoken out in favor of legalization since early 2017, claiming the state could generate more than $580 million a year by putting a 35 percent tax on marijuana sold in state-sanctioned retail stores.
But some law enforcement officials, who will also likely play a key role in any legislative battle, view it as an issue of public health and safety, not a matter of revenue.
The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, which opposes legalization, recently tweeted out a column by Republican state Sen. Scott Martin, chair of the Local Government Committee, who wrote that legalizing would “take a human toll in Pennsylvania,” citing health risks including the potential link between marijuana use and increased risks for domestic violence.
“We should never be willing to sell out lives in exchange for new tax dollars,” Mr. Martin wrote.
Mr. Fetterman’s listening tour hasn’t stopped in Allegheny County yet, but will be in Greensburg from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, it will stop by Fayette County at Penn State University’s branch campus in Lemont Furnace.