Montco lawmaker seeks sponsors for bill to legalize pot
Washington. Colorado. Pennsylvania? A Democratic lawmaker from Montgomery County plans to introduce a bill making marijuana use legal in Pennsylvania.
Montco lawmaker seeks sponsors for bill to legalize pot
Washington. Colorado. Pennsylvania?
A Democratic lawmaker from Montgomery County plans to introduce a bill making marijuana use legal in Pennsylvania.
What is Sen. Daylin Leach smoking, you might ask?
Common sense, he says.
Buoyed by the legalization of marijuana by voters in Washington and Colorado in the November election, Leach is circulating a memo seeking co-sposors for his bill to make pot legal in the commonwealth.
To Leach, the war on drugs, as it relates to marijuana is a waste of money and makes criminals out of otherwise law abiding citizens.
In Pennsylvania alone, there were 24,685 arrests for marijuana possession since 2006, according to the office of National Drug Control Policy.
That means $325 million to prosecute, incarcerate and disrupt the lives of thousands of people whose only crime, says Leach, "was smoking a plant which made them feel a bit giddy."
But could it happen in the socially conservative Pennsylvania legislature, where even medical marijuana legislation can't find its way out of committee let alone become law as it has in 19 states?
"I acknowledge that it may take a while," said Leach. "But like same-sex marriage, this will inevitably happen. Demographics and exposure will in time defeat irrational fears, old wives tales and bad science. This bill furthers the discussion, which hastens the day."
Leach said persecuting marijuana users is foolish, ill-conceived, costly and destructive policy must end.
His bill, he said, will remove the possession, use, and regulated sale of marijuana from the purview of our state's criminal justice system and legalize the consumption of marijuana for adults.
Leach adds the state could benefit from hundreds of millions in taxes on a product that continues to be trafficked underground.
Provisions of the legislation would include that marijuana be a regulated product, treated in a way similar to how alcohol is treated. It will be sold legally only in either state stores or beer distributors.
It still would be illegal to:
- Operate of motor vehicles under the influence of marijuana
- Possess narijuana if you are under the age of 21 or for an adult to sell it to a minor.
- It would be illegal to resell marijuana, as it is illegal to resell alcohol in Pennsylvania today.
- It would be illegal in public places - as alcohol is - and employers may prohibit its use on their property.
Said Leach: "It is time for Pennsylvania to be a leader in jettisoning this modern-day prohibition, and ending a policy that has been so destructive, costly, and anti-scientific."
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What is "narijuana"? Isn't it odd that the good ol' USA is the only country in the world where marijuana is now legal. What a country...— phillycaster- Don't be such a stick in the mud. Legalization, Now That's What I'm Talkin' About. Makes my eyes red just thinkin' about it. We can use the State Store distribution and retail network to control it and grow it in PA. Let the other state's residents come here and buy the heavily taxed PA Prime Weed and just leave all of their cash here in PA.
— DarnelX - Amen Darnel.
NJ will take all of our tax dollars if they legalize it before us.
PA should invest money to invent blood test and other procedures required to manage the pot smokers and prevent them from driving cars under "pot influence".
PA has a huge opportunity to take lead and make big money from this new world where pot will be legal.— Seed1 - OMG I agree with Seed1? The world must be flat. And I agree with Leech? Shoot me with an AK47 using a full load clip!
- Please so some research before you make statements!
Marijuana has been, at the least, decriminalized in a number of countries, while in others, the government controls the business (this sort of thing rings a bell!)
If marijuana is, indeed, made a legal business, then rather than being a net expenditure of tax dollars it could become a source of tax dollars. This, of course, is one of the difficulties in decriminalizing it. There is a huge bureaucracy dedicated to spending tax dollars to perpetuate itself.
Don't mess with the bureaucracy!— BEMiller - sadly this will not pass, yet, but it is a symbolic step in the right direction. One day common sense will prevail.— Rock1
- It won't pass because PA is one of the worst states in the union for civil liberties. In the end, it will probably be the last state outside the Deep South to legalize weed. — Thad Lawrence
- Its time to show the public that most pot smokers are good people and many of them are adults with jobs.— thequickhippie
- surprised our legislature is not all for this...it would be a huge new trough from which the pigs could feed...as soon as they see the $$$ that is generated in other states, they might come around— box297
- Once all the states see how much revenue it provides for them to potentially steal from us, it will be legal. I give it 10yrs until all states have made it legal.— apogwist
- Doubtful.
It has been obvious for decades, at the least, that legal marijuana would be a net addition to the tax revenue rather than the current net subtraction from the tax revenue.
One reason is, of course, that the various bureaucracies, as the DEA and the rest, would face cutbacks in "workload" due the free trade.
Moreover, the "mythos" that surrounds the weed obviously mitigates against legalization.— BEMiller - This comment has been deleted.— diversity = plummeting home values
- Most users of so-called hard drugs used milk.
On the other hand, I have never had the slightest suspicion that marijuana is harmless. Perhaps it hasn't as much potential for harm as some other things, but there are always problems.
NOTHING in this world, it would seem, is utterly benign nor harmful.— BEMiller - Can we all please vote these conservative grandparents that we still have in office in Harrisburg out the next time we have the opportunity, please!— my3cents
- This will NEVER happen.
I am utterly against term limits, but, it seems, people will continue to vote for the same clowns to the bitter end: The clowns either retire with marvelous pensions or they kick it while in office.— BEMiller
