July 10, 2025
MIKE CARDEW/USA TODAY NETWORK
A bipartisan marijuana legalization bill was introduced Thrusday in the Pennsylvania state Senate. The proposal would adopt a private industry model instead of the plan for state-run stores that House lawmakers passed in May before that proposal was rejected in a Senate committee.
A new bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania was introduced in the state Senate on Thursday, marking the latest attempt in a yearslong effort to build consensus around a plan for adult-use cannabis.
The bipartisan proposal was put forth by Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) and Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-Erie), who have teamed up on other marijuana legalization bills during past legislative sessions.
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“This bill is smart, fair and realistic,” Laughlin said in a statement Thursday. “It’s time Pennsylvania joined the growing number of states that are getting cannabis policy right.”
The Senate bill would adopt a private industry model and create an independent Pennsylvania Cannabis Control Board that oversees adult-use products for people 21 and older and the state's existing medical marijuana program. The proposal also calls for restorative justice measures, including the expungement of records of low-level marijuana offenses and the creation of pathways for small- and minority-owned businesses to gain footing in various facets of the industry.
“This plan legalizes cannabis in a way that lifts up communities impacted by prohibition,” Street said.
The bill contrasts sharply with another proposal that was narrowly passed by the Democrat-controlled House in May. That plan, led by Reps. Rick Krajewski (D-Philadelphia) and Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), called for recreational marijuana to be primarily sold at state-run stores under the direction of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. The Senate's Law & Justice Committee, which is chaired by Laughlin, swiftly rejected the bill on grounds that a state-store model would never gain enough support to make it out of the Republican-controlled Senate.
Earlier this month, Laughlin introduced a separate bill to create a Cannabis Control Board that would remove the state's medical marijuana program from the umbrella of the Department of Health. That bill also aims to target unregulated hemp and THC products that are being sold in stores as intoxicating alternatives to conventionally cultivated marijuana.
Laughlin and Street had put out a co-sponsorship memo previewing their bill in February, but they did not introduce it until Thursday. Among other provisions, the bill would require age verification for all marijuana purchases and impose penalties for underage use or public consumption. It also would ban marketing to children, require product testing and labeling, and maintain employers' rights to enforce drug-free workplace policies. The Cannabis Control Board would regulate home cultivation of marijuana for personal use.
The bill's introduction comes as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and top lawmakers in Harrisburg continue negotiations on the state budget. Shapiro and marijuana legalization advocates had been hopeful that a bill could be passed as part of the budget, but Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, whose district covers four counties in the western part of the state, said last month it won't be included.
With the exception of West Virginia, all of the states bordering Pennsylvania have legalized recreational marijuana. Shapiro has called legalization "an issue of competitiveness," and advocates project legal sales would generate more than $1 billion in state tax revenue within four years.
The bill proposed by Street and Laughlin would dedicate marijuana tax revenue to public safety, medical cannabis assistance, drug prevention programs, workforce development, equity grants and the state’s general fund.
Chris Goldstein, regional director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, called the new Senate bill a welcome step for the state.
"It's better than the state store proposal, which was going nowhere in the Senate and had confused a lot of consumers and potential business people," he said. "I think Senators Street and Laughlin are much more in touch with the longtime community concerns about legalization."
Still, Goldstein said the state store bill created more party division than consensus around legalization, and he views speedy passage of the Senate bill to be an unlikely prospect.
Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a nonprofit group of physicians and other opponents of legalization, urged lawmakers not to pass the legislation.
“Pennsylvania should not be the next state to repeat the costly mistakes we’ve seen from commercialization elsewhere,” Kevin A. Sabet, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “When we prioritize industry profits over public health, we see skyrocketing rates of youth use, psychosis, emergency room visits, and impaired driving."
ResponsiblePA, a lobbying group for the cannabis industry, conducted a survey in April that found 74% of Pennsylvania voters support legalization of recreational marijuana. The survey also found voters heavily favor a private industry market over having marijuana sold in state-run stores.
The Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, a nonprofit trade organization, praised the Senate bill introduced Thursday.
“We urge swift, collaborative action to ensure the Commonwealth can implement a safe and regulated marketplace, avoid falling behind neighboring states, and generate new revenue for the Commonwealth to fund critical projects and services across Pennsylvania," executive director Meredith Buettner Schneider said.
