I just got done participating in an online poll at Penn Live. The poll is asking whether or not marijuana should be legalized in Pennsylvania for both recreational and medical purposes, just medical purposes, or if both should remain illegal. As of the writing of this blog post, 91.78% of poll participants voted for medical and recreational marijuana legalization. 4.49% of poll participants said that it should be legal only for medical purposes, while 3.73% felt marijuana should remain illegal. 12,970 people participated so far in the poll.
This is of course far from a scientific poll. However, gauging the mood of voters in Pennsylvania on this issue is important as it sounds like Daylin Leach is planning on introducing marijuana reform legislation as early as this week in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, like many other states in the nation, need marijuana reform in a bad way. Patients are suffering in Pennsylvania just like in any other state, and they should be given the option of using cannabis for relief. Also, people shouldn’t be going to jail for cannabis in Pennsylvania either.
Sadly, it sounds like Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is out of touch with the majority of Americans who feel that marijuana prohibition has failed. “Although opinion is swinging toward legalizing marijuana nationally, here in Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has said he would veto any such bill that reached his desk — although today he did indicate he’d be open to medical marijuana legalization, at the direction of the Food and Drug Administration.” according to Penn Live.
Any Governor who comes out against marijuana reform before there’s even a bill in the state legislature is a terrible Governor in my opinion. A Governor is supposed to allow the democratic process to play out, and only in the event of legislation that is more harmful than helpful should he/she use their veto power. Marijuana legalization would help out Pennsylvania on too many levels to oppose it. And legalizing medical marijuana, regardless of what the FDA says, would help suffering patients in Pennsylvania, which is something that everyone should get on board with, especially a Governor who supposedly believes in compassion.
