Pennsylvania House passes first adult-use marijuana bill

For the first time, the Pennsylvania state House has advanced an adult-use marijuana legalization bill.

However, Republican lawmakers in the state Senate warned that the Democrat-sponsored proposal – which, according to Philadelphia TV station WPVI, advanced Wednesday on a 102-101 party-line vote – is “dead on arrival,” Spotlight PA reported.

With annual medical marijuana sales totaling roughly $1.7 billion, Pennsylvania is considered one of the biggest potential new markets for the U.S. marijuana industry if recreational cannabis is passed.

Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has repeatedly called on state lawmakers to legalize adult-use marijuana.

And with the state staring down a sizable budget deficit, lawmakers are under pressure to find new sources of revenue.

However, House Bill 1200, sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Rick Krajewski, has no Republican support and is considered unlikely to pass the GOP-controlled state Senate.

That’s in part because HB 1200 would limit marijuana sales to state-run retail outlets.

That’s how liquor is sold in Pennsylvania, but it would be a first in the United States and wouldn’t be much help for medical cannabis operators seeking to grow their businesses.

It’s the proposal for a state-run sales model that’s a nonstarter with legalization supporters such as Republican state Sen. Dan Laughlin and his GOP colleagues.

In a statement, Laughlin reiterated earlier opposition to a state-run store model.

“As someone who has advocated for a responsible approach to legalization, I have repeatedly made it clear that there is zero chance that the state store model will make it through the Senate,” he said in a statement to Spotlight PA.

Such a sales model would also run afoul of federal marijuana prohibition, potentially putting state revenue at risk, according to an analysis commissioned by the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, an organization of existing MMJ businesses.