Pennsylvania Legalization By The Numbers
The Day 1 Promise
- The Day 1 Promise means learning from other states’ experience with legalization, and ensuring that safe, accessible, and regulated adult use cannabis is available throughout the Commonwealth on day one.
The Day 1 Promise has four pillars:
- Keeping communities safe
- Moving from an illicit cannabis market to sales that are taxed and regulated
- Providing for communities impacted by cannabis prohibition, and
- Creating economic opportunities for Pennsylvanians.
That’s the Day 1 Promise.
Moving PA Forward
Pennsylvania lawmakers can and should legalize adult use cannabis in 2024.
Creating an adult-use cannabis market will create a new economy, new jobs and a new source of revenue for the state. State economists estimate that first-year legal sales could yield nearly $14.8 million. Revenue and job creation will continue to increase each year, with the state projecting the industry adding more than $250 million at full maturity.
Adult use cannabis is already in Pennsylvania; however, it’s illicit, untested, untaxed, unregulated, and accessible to children. The decision is not whether to have adult use cannabis or not—it’s what should it look like in the Commonwealth. Legalizing cannabis allows Pennsylvania to reduce the harm caused by illicit markets, including drug-related violence and unsafe products. A regulated environment ensures consumer protection, youth prevention, and responsible use education.
Together, we can move Pennsylvania’s economy forward, ignite a job boom, harvest the tools needed to allow small businesses to thrive in the Commonwealth, and increase public health and safety.
The Time Is Now
2/3 of Pennsylvanian’s support legalization of cannabis.
- The time is now to legalize an adult-use cannabis program in Pennsylvania.
- The time is now to put the Commonwealth state on equal standing with neighboring states who recognize the failed drug policies of the past.
- Legalizing cannabis is a critical step towards addressing the disproportionate impact of cannabis prohibition on marginalized communities.
- It offers a chance to rectify past injustices, reduce unnecessary incarcerations, reallocate law enforcement resources to more serious and violent crimes, and create centers of social equity and innovation.
Our state can also recognize personal freedom and individual rights of Pennsylvanians through legalization. Adults should have the right to make their own choices about cannabis consumption in a legal, regulated framework.
In The News
Pa. House subcommittee explores adding equity component to potential cannabis legislation
A Pennsylvania House subcommittee met Thursday to explore how potential cannabis legislation could advance equity and social justice in the face of the disproportionate impact of the war on drugs on minority [...]
Pennsylvania Navigates Social Equity in Cannabis Legalization Conversations
Pennsylvania’s House Health committee hosted an informational hearing today on social equity in legalizing recreational cannabis. The 2 1/2 hour hearing established that many states that have fully legalized weed have shaped [...]
Pa. needs to consider equity, expunging criminal records if legalizing cannabis, advocates say
While neighboring states like New Jersey and New York have already legalized cannabis, Pennsylvania is still workshopping a bill to do so. Advocates testified in Harrisburg on Thursday and encouraged lawmakers to [...]
PA Lawmakers Working to Advance Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization This Year
Harrisburg, PA. (April 11, 2024) – Today, Pennsylvania lawmakers on the House Health Subcommittee on Healthcare convened a hearing to discuss how to implement social equity measures within an adult-use cannabis program [...]
Pennsylvania Lawmakers File Marijuana Legalization Bill Ahead Of Committee Hearing This Week
Just ahead of a Pennsylvania committee meeting on cannabis reform this week, House lawmakers have introduced a bill to legalize marijuana that the lead sponsor says is “grounded in safety and social [...]
A look at Pa. pitch to legalize marijuana
In his state budget pitch, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro called for the Pennsylvania legislature to legalize recreational marijuana. Shapiro is not breaking new ground. His predecessor, Democrat Tom Wolf, came out in [...]