The Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, continues his pursuits to make recreational marijuana legal in his state.
Pennsylvania Agenda Calls For Cannabis Reform
Governor Tom Wolf tweeted on February 3rd about his future actions as Governor. After discussing how he plans to cut taxes for families who make less than $50,000 a year he went on to say, “My plan for 2021 also includes: increasing the minimum wage, building a stronger workforce, reforming the criminal justice system, investing in public infrastructure, reducing business taxes and closing the Delaware Loophole, and legalizing adult-use marijuana.”
Adult-use marijuana is becoming increasingly popular among many states. When asked about it he said, “Pennsylvania has built a successful medical mairjuana program through bipartisan work. It’s time to take the next step and legalize recreational marijuana in the commonwealth with an emphasis on helping businesses and restorative justice.” He then goes on to say how this drug reform would, “support historically disadvantaged small businesses through grant funding and provide them the assistance they need to back from the economic crisis and strengthen our economy.”
Then Gov. Wolf continued on about the importance of this helping those in need, “Additionally, a portion of the revenue will support restorative justice programs to help the individuals and communities that have been adversely harmed by the criminalization of marijuana. Combined, these initiatives will serve as a step forward in reversing the decades of injustices, economic harm and trauma caused by marijuana criminalization, particularly on minority communities.”
While these claims lay in the interests of all of our hearts, action itself speaks a louder word. Wolf’s proposed spending legislation on adult-use marijuana did not seem to back his claims, as there was no proposed spending legislation on the issue. His budget does ask for $14,592,000 for appropriations to support the medical marijuana program though. Hopefully that’ll be clarified soon as we are held in suspense.
Wolf claims that medical marijuana and, “Adult-use cannabis (have) strong bipartisan support among Pennsylvanians.” Only time will tell if this is true or not as Republican lawmakers resist to pass this monumental movement. It is worthy to note that last September, Wolf did attempt to reform the drug policy, and then complained to GOP lawmakers about it when they didn’t approve the measure.
The Lieutenant Governor on Marijuana Reform
While Governor Wolf tries to get the adult-use marijuana bill passed, a key leader Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is spearheading an effort to move the Governor towards accepting even greater comprehensive reform measures. Fetterman is one of the strongest allies in the marijuana world of Pennsylvania, as he used to run a “listening tour” around the state to hear what Pennsylvanians are in need of. Fetterman even expressed his enthusiasm for pot as he hung marijuana-themed flags at his office in the Capitol.
Unfortunately, a group of GOP members passed a budget bill that “restricts the types of flags that can be flown on government property,” which included Fretterman’s flags. He retaliated by simply, putting them back up after saying, “There’s one great way to get them down for good and we can end this.” Implying if they would enact legislative reform, he’ll take them down.
Fetterman also had a call with other top officials in Illinois and Michigan, who’ve enacted legalization. He was inquiring about the best way to “effectively implement a cannabis system.” After continuous talk Fetterman wanted administration to, “wholesale pardons for certain marijuana convictions and charges.” This is the kind of change we like to see. When this plant becomes legal and the toils placed on communities are lifted will we even begin to start where we should be.
Additional Resources:
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