Governor Tom Wolf is once again urging the Pennsylvania legislature to make adult-use cannabis legal in the state.
He says the benefits from doing so will help Pennsylvanians. "This year, I again went to the General Assembly and asked them to make legalizing adult-use cannabis a priority for the fall as we work to find ways to overcome the economic hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic," Gov. Wolf said. "To date, there has been no movement to advance legislation. So, I'm here today to ask again, and to focus on two particular benefits of legalization – potential economic growth and much-needed restorative justice."
Wolf has asked lawmakers to take up the issue of legalizing marijuana multiple times this year since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
However, he wasn't always on board with the idea of legalization. In 2018, Wolf told the KDKA Radio at the time is not right for the state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, "I don't think the citizens of Pennsylvania are ready for it."
Then in January of 2019, Lt. Governor John Fetterman announced the launch of a marijuana listening tour in Pennsylvania with the intent of learning whether or not residents were ready for legalized weed.
In September, Lt. Governor John Fetterman told the KDKA Radio morning show "There's not one other policy that's ever had this level of engagement within the last 30 years in Pennsylvania, and that's a fact."
Pennsylvania's Second Lady, Gisele Fetterman, spoke to KDKA Radio's Robert Mangino on the subject of legalizing marijuana for recreational use and said there are many reasons to legalize marijuana in the state such as improved access for medical use. "It's a way to right a very long wrong," said Fetterman. "We're long overdue. It's time to be on the right side of history."
"I think that in states that have legalized, you know, life has continued. They've only seen improvements in regards to fiscal improvements and quality of life for people," said the Second Lady.
In addition to economic benefits that the administration say would come from legalization, they say it will help bring justice to those with cannabis-related charges. The Lt. governor says 20,000 people a year face issues from such charges. "It's time we stop ruining people's futures over something that's already legal in several states and something that most Pennsylvanians don't even think should be illegal."
"We are taking steps to reverse the injustices caused by marijuana criminalization," Gov. Wolf said. "In 2018, I signed the Clean Slate bill, which allows for the sealing of records for certain low-level offenses if a person has been free from convictions for ten years. That law can be applied to certain marijuana-related offenses, and the Board of Pardons has expedited pardons for low-level marijuana offenses. But there is much more that needs to be done to reverse decades of injustice. And we need to start by decriminalizing cannabis and legalizing it for adult use."
