Pennsylvania plan for state-run marijuana breaks U.S. law

Pennsylvania would run afoul of federal drug law if an adult-use marijuana legalization proposal involving state-run retail outlets becomes law.

That’s according to a recent analysis commissioned by the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition (PCC), an organization whose members include many of the multistate operators that currently hold medical cannabis licenses in the state.

State lawmakers indicated in December they plan to reintroduce a marijuana legalization proposal that would see sales confined to state-run retail outlets overseen by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

That’s how alcohol is sold in the state, but such a setup would shut out the MSOs currently selling medical cannabis.

The proposal also would require the state liquor authority to “distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent” to sell recreational marijuana, according to Philadelphia law firm Kleinbard, which the PCC selected to analyze the state-run model.

Though all state adult-use markets violate federal law, Kleinbard called the state-run sales model “fundamentally defective,” according to Green Market Report.

Pennsylvania has a robust MMJ market – with annual sales of roughly $1.7 billion – but it’s also one of the states the U.S. marijuana industry is hoping launches adult-use sales soon.

Adult-use legalization sales in Pennsylvania could reach $2.8 billion within a year, according to a recent analysis.

Cannabis is sold from state-run retailers in Canada, but the drug is federally legal in that country.

Though several U.S. states restrict liquor sales to state-run stores, no state has tried that model with marijuana.