Michael Bronstein, the Pennsylvania-based president of the American Trade Association for Cannabis & Hemp, told Marijuana Moment that \u201cwith Democrats poised to take control of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the first time in three decades, legalization has never been closer in Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monica McCafferty, a spokesperson for the cannabis reform group ResponsiblePA, said that \u201cwith the new Democratic majority in the Senate, voters just handed Harrisburg permission to legalize.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no excuse left,\u201d she said. \u201c2027 is the year Pennsylvania gets this done.\u201d<\/p>\n
In September, House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) said at a cannabis event that Pennsylvania would be poised to legalize marijuana if Democrats gained Senate control<\/a>, arguing that the state still has \u201ca ways to go\u201d to catch up with its neighbors that have already \u201cmoved in the right direction\u201d by enacting legalization.<\/p>\n While McClinton\u2019s chamber passed a bill to legalize cannabis last year<\/a>, it has stalled in the Senate, where Republican have had a narrow majority.<\/p>\n House Appropriations Committee Chair Jordan Harris (D) also spoke alongside McClinton on the Black Cannabis Week panel, noting that \u201cattitudes are changing in Pennsylvania with regards to cannabis\u201d but that \u201cone of the reasons why we don\u2019t have full adult use legalized here is because of the attitudes of a handful of members of the Pennsylvania State Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf we had those attitudes changed and\/or the attitudes of their constituency, we would pass a bill out of the House, we would send it to the Senate and they would be able to run it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Harris, who oversees fiscal issues in his committee leadership capacity, said \u201cit is the finances that\u2019s going to finally drive the conversation, regardless of how we personally feel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s going to be about the money, and I think that money is going to drive us to actually legalizing adult use very soon in the commonwealth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur friends in the bordering states are benefiting from us not legalizing cannabis,\u201d Harris said, noting that Pennsylvania residents are crossing the border to buy marijuana. \u201cWe are missing out on that tax revenue here, and so for me, it would be a real boom to our economy here in Pennsylvania for us to legalize it.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Sharif Street (D), who has sponsored legislation to legalize marijuana for several sessions, said that if Democrats take a majority in the Senate, \u201cwe may be helping to move this process forward and having a different kind of say\u201d as compared to his ability to advance legislation in the minority caucus.<\/p>\n The Black Cannabis Week panel came ahead of a hearing on marijuana legalization that the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee<\/a> held later in the day where lawmakers highlighted the need for reform.<\/p>\n Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania have continually pushed for marijuana legalization<\/a>, including with a discharge resolution that Street filed seeking to bring a bipartisan cannabis bill out of committee.<\/p>\n The measure, which was signed by every Democratic senator, aimed to increase pressure on the chamber\u2019s Republican majority to allow a vote on legalizing cannabis.<\/p>\n The bill in question is sponsored by Street along with Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), who chairs the Senate Law & Justice Committee but hasn\u2019t called the legislation up for consideration in the panel.<\/p>\n The GOP chairman has instead focused on moving a separate bill to create a new Cannabis Control Board to regulate medical marijuana and hemp. That measure failed on the Senate floor in June amid partisan fighting about the best way forward for cannabis in the state.<\/p>\n The marijuana legalization bill that Street wants to advance<\/a>, SB 120<\/a>, would allow adults aged 21 and older to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 1,000 milligrams of THC in edible products and 5 grams of concentrate.<\/p>\n It would also create a process to expunge prior marijuana-related criminal records.<\/p>\n If enacted, there would be an 8 percent excise tax on cannabis sales, alongside the state\u2019s regular sales tax of 6 percent.<\/p>\n The legislative maneuvering around the bill came as a recent poll showed that Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly support marijuana legalization<\/a>\u2014and that the largest share put the blame on Republican lawmakers for the fact that the state has not yet enacted the reform.<\/p>\n Republican gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity, who lost to Shapiro in Tuesday\u2019s election, had pledged to veto a marijuana legalization bill<\/a>\u00a0if lawmakers ever sent one to her desk\u2014though she added that she doesn\u2019t think the reform stands a chance of making it that far in the state.<\/p>\n Her running mate for lieutenant governor, Jason Richey, claimed that\u00a0legalizing marijuana would be \u201ccatastrophic\u201d for the state<\/a>, arguing it would increase the size of the illegal market, undermine job creation and harm public health.<\/p>\n Current Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) said he doesn\u2019t think the state will legalize marijuana this year<\/a>\u2014and he believes that it should not move ahead at all without further changes at the federal level.<\/p>\n The governor earlier this year, as he has in past years,\u00a0included cannabis legalization and the resulting expected revenue in his budget request<\/a>.<\/p>\n The House last year passed a bill to legalize marijuana and put sales in state-owned dispensaries<\/a>, but the Republican Senate majority has criticized that plan while also\u00a0not advancing a cannabis legalization model of its own<\/a>.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) reported in February that\u00a0legalizing cannabis in Pennsylvania would generate nearly half a billion dollars in annual revenue<\/a>\u00a0by 2028, an estimate that is a significantly larger cash windfall compared to projections from Shapiro\u2019s own office.<\/p>\n A spokesperson in the governor\u2019s office said the Trump administration\u2019s federal marijuana rescheduling move is an\u00a0\u201cimportant step\u201d that \u201cadds support\u201d to his push to legalize cannabis<\/a>. A GOP senator also said that federal reform will make it easier to legalize marijuana in the state<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Meanwhile, Laughlin is blaming the governor for the defeat<\/a>\u00a0of his bill to create a new Cannabis Control Board (CCB) to oversee the state\u2019s medical marijuana program and intoxicating hemp products<\/a> and that could also one day oversee recreational cannabis if it is legalized.<\/p>\n Most GOP senators in the Republican-controlled chamber voted for the legislation from Laughlin, and all but two Democrats opposed it\u2014with even some lawmakers who signed onto the measure as cosponsors ultimately voting against it.<\/p>\n The measure would transfer regulatory authority for the state\u2019s existing medical cannabis program from the Department of Health to a new seven-member CCB. The body would oversee cannabis permits, enforcement, seed-to-sale tracking, advertising, labeling, testing and other aspects of the legal industry.<\/p>\n Moments after the bill\u2019s defeat on the Senate floor, the chamber adopted a motion to reconsider\u2014but it\u2019s not yet clear when or if the legislation will get another vote.<\/p>\n Laughlin\u2019s legislation would also significantly restrict most hemp THC products<\/a>, aligning the state with a new federal policy that is set to take effect later this year recriminalizing preparations with total THC content of more than 0.3 percent on a dry-weight basis or more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container.<\/p>\n The action on the cannabis regulatory bill, SB 49, came shortly after the House of Representatives passed a bill to allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in hospitals<\/a> and other healthcare facilities. A companion bill on medical marijuana access in healthcare facilities<\/a> is also advancing in the Senate.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a Republican senator recently announced plans to file legislation to keep hemp THC products legally available<\/a> while enacting new regulations.<\/p>\n Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.<\/p>\n
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
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