PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) – Medical Marijuana is currently available to the people of Pennsylvania but Senate Bill 350 would legalize cannabis for recreational use among adults.
State Senator Sharif Street of Philadelphia tells KDKA Radio’s Lynne Hayes-Freeland legalization would be a big source of revenue for the Commonwealth but it is also about fixing the criminal justice system.
“We literally have similar uses of cannabis amongst demographic group’s white, black, Latino, rich and poor but poor people are more likely to be prosecuted than wealthier people and the rate of prosecution for cannabis use amongst African Americans and Latinos is four to five times as the prosecutions for white folks,” said Street.
Street adds it’s also a civil liberties issue.
“If people can go to a bar and buy a drink why shouldn’t they be able to go out and responsibility use cannabis,” said Street. “It’s time to end the prohibition of the adult use of cannabis.”
Street also argues that places where marijuana has been legalized has seen a reduction in the use of opioids.
The biggest obstacles the bill faces in Street’s opinion is convincing some of his colleagues that marijuana is not the gateway drug the some believe.
Street adds some of the taxes would go to schools reducing property taxes in some areas and “increase educational funding in others.”
Local Rep. Jake Wheatley’s has a similar bill in the house.
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