Pennsylvania Democratic senators are urging the governor and legislative leaders to consider adult-use cannabis legalization during this year’s budget negotiations, in order to avoid tax increases and spending cuts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The July 9 letter sent by Sen. Sharif Street and cosigned by 14 other senators argues that recreational marijuana legalization would raise about $581 million per year through taxation and regulation and would help the state avoid broad-based tax increases.
“We are amid a historic crisis, and we should be doing everything possible to avoid raising taxes that could have far seen and unintended consequences on so many of our communities [that] are struggling to get by right now,” according to the senators.
Legalization would also bring justice since cannabis-related offenses disproportionately fall on Black and Hispanic citizens, the letter states.
According to the letter, polls show that approximately two-thirds of voters in the state are in favor of the sale of adult-use cannabis. It argues that the state’s medical marijuana program demonstrates the potential for additional revenue. Medical marijuana, which was legalized in the state in 2016, is subject to a 5 percent tax on the gross receipts from the sale by a grower or processor to a dispensary.
Adult-use cannabis legalization is “popular among Democrats and Republicans, men and women, every age group, and every ideology,” the letter states, adding that it would also create new jobs.
The senators also argue that cannabis legalization would neither create a gateway to other drugs nor increase underage use.
Gov. Tom Wolf (D) did not respond to a request for comment by press time.