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Your action is needed RIGHT NOW. They’re trying to pull a fast one. BEFORE 11:00am today (start of Senate session), contact your State Senator and tell them to vote NO on Senate Bill 49. There have been some amendments to this bill, but the following major concerns remain:
- It fails to prioritize medical oversight of marijuana regulation in Pennsylvania. This bill would take all regulatory authority away from the PA Department of Health and give “sole regulatory authority” to an unelected seven-member control board.
- It subsidizes marijuana use with taxpayer dollars. The bill would create a fund to cover various costs of marijuana products, expanding access to high-potency THC, and using public money to pay for those products.
- It could be used as a vehicle to legalize full recreational use of marijuana. As the bill moves through the legislative process, particularly during this active budget season, it risks having harmful amendments added and becoming a vehicle used to further the marijuana industry’s agenda.
Call YOUR senator *and* the following senators:
- Sen Martin: (717) 397-1309
- Sen Judy Ward: (717) 787-6063
- Sen Dan Laughlin: (717) 787-8927
- You can also email – here’s one online action alert you can use.
This industry-backed bill has passed in both the PA Senate Rules and Appropriations Committees. It is now expected to go to the full PA Senate for a vote today (Wednesday, June 10) for final passage. SB49 is what the marijuana industry wants. The push for a marijuana control board originated in a broader 181-page recreational legalization bill. As one industry lobbyist puts it, SB49 is the “first step” towards this end goal. Please call your Senator at their Harrisburg office before the session begins at 11am tomorrow.
Note: If the bill passes the PA Senate today, it will go to the PA House for consideration.
Amendments
- SB49 was amended to require the three appointments made by the governor to be one with “experience in law enforcement,” one with experience “in the medical field and dealing with addiction,” and one with experience in “cannabis matters.” However, the bill provides no further definitions for those qualifications. There are no expertise requirements for the other four appointed positions.
- There was an amendment added to say in the general powers of the proposed board that they cannot “authorize the sale of recreational marijuana absent approval by the General Assembly.” It’s good that this bill currently includes this language. We also have a Governor pushing for the costly recreational use of marijuana as part of his final budget. We need to make sure this bill is not altered to be a vehicle for such purposes.
Possible Motive: Generally speaking, the people voting for outrageous budgets and deficit spending happily advocate for recreational marijuana – and anything that helps usher it in – because they BELIEVE that it will generate needed revenue. In a sense that may be true but, sadly, they refuse to learn lessons of other states where the indirect costs and expenses FAR outweigh the revenues generated.
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