Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf may be the state’s most high-profile public official calling for recreational cannabis these days, but that wasn’t always so. During his six years in office, the York County native’s shifting views appear molded by a cabinet stacked with some staunch pro-cannabis advocates. From the success of the Department of Health’s medical marijuana program to hiring former Democratic challenger John Hanger as his secretary of policy and planning to aligning himself with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, it seems logical that Wolf would eventually find himself stumping for the policy as a panacea to state budget problems. “The […]

“Four score and seven years ago” are words that many associate with Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but that also describes how long marijuana has been illegal in Pennsylvania. At a Wednesday news conference on the Capitol steps urging action to reverse that law, Les Stark, executive director of Keystone Cannabis Coalition, likened Lincoln’s address delivered on the Gettysburg Battlefield to what he termed a “war on the people over plant that has always been here with us.” He pointed out it was “four score and seven years ago” when Pennsylvania Republican prohibitionist Gov. Gifford Pinchot signed a law banning marijuana […]

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman called on the state General Assembly to legalize marijuana on Thursday, arguing that taxes levied on commercial cannabis sales could help the state recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wolf initially outlined his recreational marijuana legalization plan in a legislative agenda released last week. “Legalization of adult-use cannabis will provide a new revenue stream to direct toward economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling additional funding for grants for historically disadvantaged businesses. Legalization will also create more outlets for important restorative justice programs in the commonwealth,” Wolf’s office […]