Following last week’s election, Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives retained a one vote majority. Now, Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D) says that he expects the House to see some movement on legislation to legalize recreational marijuana.
In September, a bipartisan coalition of 17 House members introduced a comprehensive, bipartisan marijuana legalization bill. Under the proposed law, those 21 and older would be allowed to possess and use up to 30 grams of marijuana, purchasable via a licensed marijuana outlet. The legal marijuana industry would be overseen by the Department of Agriculture.
Now, following Tuesday’s election, Bradford says there’s “will in the House to move forward” on marijuana legalization next session.
“That is a new area that the Senate will be likely having to deal with in the very near future”, he told reporter Stephen Caruso.
Following the results of the election, the marijuana advocacy group Responsible PA released a statement stating:
Responsible PA applauds the election of a supportive adult-use cannabis majority in the Pennsylvania House. As this chamber moved so close to bi-partisan cannabis legalization at the end of the 2024 session, we are hopeful to see the legislature double-down on their efforts in January to get Pennsylvania on track with 90% of our neighbors with an adult-use cannabis market. And, as we move past this week’s national election, the nation is now looking at Pennsylvania to be the next large state to legalize adult-use cannabis. The conversation will also undoubtedly become a major budget item for PA lawmakers heading into 2025.
According to polling conducted by Change Research and released last month, there’s strong support for marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, with more than 60% of voters in five key House districts backing the move to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis.
