Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman have combined their voices in calling for Pennsylvania to fully legalize marijuana.
At a Capitol news conference on Wednesday, Wolf moved beyond his previously stated position of wanting to study the experience of the 11 other states as well as the District of Columbia that have passed marijuana legalization laws. For the first time, Wolf said he thinks it’s time for this state to join them.
Several legislators “agree with the many Pennsylvanians with making adult-use regulated marijuana use legal – that includes me,” Wolf said. “I agree.”
Fetterman, who has been a proponent of marijuana legalization, declared, “If you are opposed to the recreational adult use of cannabis that is a minority view now in Pennsylvania."
They acknowledged it’ll likely take longer to get the General Assembly to go along with legalizing recreational adult-use pot and Republican legislative leaders made it clear they aren’t on board yet. Republicans control both chambers of the General Assembly.
Still, Wolf and Fetterman urged lawmakers to immediately pass legislation to decriminalize non-violent and small cannabis-related offenses. They also asked lawmakers to find a way to expunge past convictions of those who have those kind of offenses on their criminal record.
“This has the potential to affect tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians, many of whom had their lives shattered by a conviction on an action that most Pennsylvanians do not believe is a crime,” the governor said. “Together we can get more Pennsylvanians back to work, working across the aisle in this building.”
Fetterman announced he is directing Brandon Flood, secretary of the Board of Pardons, to aggregate and expedite the pardon process for Pennsylvanians with convictions for possessing small amounts of pot and convictions of non-violent crimes, as well as drug paraphernalia convictions.
“In other words, we’ve waived the fee so it doesn’t cost you anything,” Fetterman said. “I would encourage every Pennsylvanian that has one of these charges to apply for a pardon today so we can help you get beyond those small convictions and definitively issue a pardon. This proposal enjoys the full support of the governor, my office and the Board of Pardons, too, to make sure we free Pennsylvanians from this incredible burden that’s unnecessary.”
These recommendations grow out of Fetterman’s statewide tour launched last February with the first stop in Harrisburg to take the pulse of the public’s interest in legalizing recreational marijuana. His tour included at least one stop in all 67 counties over 94 days that drew over 10,000 people.
Additionally, more than 44,000 comments were received through a form on the governor’s website. A report from that listening tour was released on Wednesday.
The governor’s call for legalizing pot drew opposition from majority Republican leaders in both the state Senate and the state House of Representatives.
“Our caucus has no plans or interest in legalizing recreational marijuana," according to a statement from the House Republican leadership team. “We are disappointed and frustrated Governor Wolf would promote recreational use of drug classified as a Schedule I narcotic by the federal government. Our state is the midst of an opioid epidemic. Governor Wolf signed a disaster declaration over the crisis and renewed the declaration six separate times since January 2018. We do not believe easing regulations on illegal drugs is the right move in helping the thousands of Pennsylvanians who are battling drug addiction.”
House and Senate GOP leaders said they want to keep the focus on the medical marijuana program that Pennsylvania legalized in 2016. Since then, the program has broadened the medical conditions from the original 17 to now 23 that can qualify a patient for a card enabling them to buy medical marijuana at a dispensary.
Given that concern, Senate Republican spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher said, “At this time, we are not convinced that legalizing marijuana will not have a negative impact on that.”
Previously, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County, lambasted the idea of legalizing marijuana, calling it “reckless and irresponsible.” He went on further to say the lack of credible research into the societal costs along with opposition from prosecutors, the medical community and law enforcement, it was a catastrophe in the making.
The opposition to legalization also extends outside the Capitol. Pennsylvania Family Institute officials pointed out that even Wolf himself pointed out the conclusions from the listening tour in gauging public support for legalization were not scientific so it should not be assumed a majority of Pennsylvanians support it.
“What we all should rely upon are legitimate scientific studies,” said Michael Geer, the family institute’s president. “Take the 2017 study by the National Academies of Sciences, considered the gold standard for medical research, which concluded a number of problems that occur with the use of marijuana, including respiratory problems, mental health issues and increased risk of car accidents.
He continued: “It’s problematic that a growing number of pregnant mothers are using marijuana. States where marijuana is legal have had an increase in marijuana overdose injuries among children. Opening Pennsylvania to the full commercialization of marijuana is only going to make problems like these even worse.”
Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration, said his organization has formed a broad coalition of health, safety, business, and law enforcement groups to fight the effort to establish a “commercial, addiction-for-profit marijuana industry" in Pennsylvania.
Sabet also said of the report from the statewide tour, given Fetterman’s widely known endorsement of fully legalizing pot, “it is hard to view any report his office releases as having the color of legitimacy.” Further, he found it “doubly concerning” that the administration would choose to release the report “in the midst of a marijuana vaping crisis, where products purchased from ‘legal’ marijuana markets have possibly resulted in deaths. Expanding these experiences would be disastrous for Pennsylvania.”
As Fetterman has shared in prior media interviews, the report states that the overall public support shown at his townhall meetings and through comments made on the governor’s website for legalizing recreational adult cannabis falls somewhere between 65 and 70 percent.
In an interview with PennLive, Fetterman said even broader support, in the 80 to 90 percent range, existed for decriminalization of marijuana and expungement. He further said he didn’t encounter a single person who thinks marijuana should be classified as a Schedule 1 drug along with heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Fetterman called on Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to work on removing marijuana from the Schedule 1 list.
His report states the most common reasons offered for legalizing pot include the criminal justice issues related to expungement for past non-violent cannabis convictions; the added jobs and tax revenue that may result; restoring personal rights and freedoms over one’s body; and it’s safer than opioids and alcohol.
Reasons that are listed as the common arguments against legalization include concerns about it being a gateway drug; people driving under the influence of marijuana; workplace concerns such as workforce lethargy, increased insurance, and industrial accidents; and negative effects on the development of youth.
Wolf said he has heard of the negative consequences of legalization that have occurred in other states, including children and pets ingesting edible marijuana products, and understands that is a concern.
“One of the things about legalizing is it actually brings it out into the light and you can go after people doing irresponsible things. As long as it’s illegal, we don’t have that recourse," Wolf said. “That’s why I think it’s important for the General Assembly to debate this and make sure we do this right.”
Legislation to legalize marijuana has been proposed in the Senate and introduced in the House. Republicans and Democrats, including Sens. Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia and Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington County, in both chambers also have introduced legislation to decriminalize non-violent, small amounts of marijuana.
Fetterman in the earlier interview pointed out a CBS News Poll released in April showed for the first time in that poll’s history, 56 percent of Republicans now think marijuana use should be legal. He attributed that to “a strong libertarian streak within the Republican Party” where the belief is government has no business telling people what they can do in the privacy of their own home.
Other takeaways Fetterman earlier shared from his statewide tour include strong support for the state’s medical marijuana program; a belief that if Pennsylvania legalizes marijuana, the legal minimum purchase age should be 21 if not higher; and it should be sold through a state store system that provides controlled regulated access.
Moreover, he said at Wednesday’s news conference that marijuana legalization has the support of veterans who turned out to his meetings who would “break down in tears because they would say cannabis is the one thing that helps me feel normal. Not better. Not great. Just normal so they can begin to cope with the process of their [post-traumatic stress disorder].”
An argument that Fetterman addressed in that earlier interview is critics say that by legalizing pot, it’s like saying it’s harmless.
"It’s not harmless. That’s the whole point of cannabis. It has an effect. If it didn’t, people would smoke lawn clippings. It’s free,” Fetterman said. “But cigarettes are deadly. Alcohol can be deadly. All these are legal regulated substances.”
The report from the lieutenant governor’s statewide tour looks at the correspondence received through the governor’s website, remarks made, and comment cards received at tour stops, along with other comments received by the lieutenant governor’s office. It also includes a county-by-county breakdown of support and opposition, including the most common arguments received for and against legalization during the tour. It also highlights the positive and negative results of legalization among individual states where recreational marijuana has been legalized.
* This post has been updated to include more information from the governor’s news conference.
Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
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