Erie County Times

As Pennsylvania moves forward in legalizing marijuana, Gov. Tom Wolf said he supports the efforts of Senate Bill 473 and 1024.

This past week, the Pennsylvania Senate Law & Justice Committee made history in the state as a legislative hearing was held to review a possibility of legalizing recreational marijuana, according to WGAL.

“Today state lawmakers are taking the first real step to legalize marijuana in Pennsylvania. I'm excited to see this moving forward. It's what Pennsylvanians say they want,” Gov. Wolf said in a tweet.

The Senate committee reviewed SB 1024 which pertains to allowing medical marijuana patients to cultivate plants and SB 473 which would make personal use of marijuana legal in the state. SB 473 works to go further than just legalization. The bill also would establish the Cannabis Regulatory Control Board that would oversee regulations of the industry from packaging labels to taxes. It would also decriminalize the possession, transportation, exchange of, use and cultivation of pot in Pennsylvania. 

In addition to reviewing the bills overviewing the legalization of marijuana, the committee also held time to hear some public opinions. In attendance to speak on behalf and in opposition of the measure was the York County District Attorney Dave Sunday, the chief county detective of Dauphin County and other law enforcement officials, WGAL reported. 

One of the concerns brought forth to the committee was from Scott Bohn, of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, who said that impaired driving was a concern in terms of marijuana being legalized, as reported by WGAL. 

Supporters of the bills that spoke before the committee included Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-Erie), who co-sponsored and introduced the originally the bill in October 2021 with seven other Senators, Sen. Mike Regan (R-York, Cumberland) and Rep. Amen Brown (D-Philadelphia).