Pennsylvania Lawmakers Unveil New Cannabis Legalization Plan

Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers have unveiled a new plan to legalize recreational marijuana, saying the state is an “outlier” in its continued prohibition of cannabis. Democratic Reps. Rick Krajewski and Dan Frankel, who led several hearings on cannabis reform during the past legislative session, said they plan to introduce legislation to decriminalize cannabis and create a regulated market that focuses on public health, raises revenue for the state and supports those harmed by the criminalization of marijuana.

Frankel and Krajewski are distributing a memo seeking cosponsors for the bill planned for the 2025-2025 legislative session, online cannabis news source Marijuana Moment reported on Monday. The memo outlines the rationale for legalizing cannabis in Pennsylvania and highlights key provisions of adult-use cannabis legislation they plan to introduce next year.

“As a state that continues to criminalize recreational cannabis, Pennsylvania is now an outlier—24 states have legalized the practice, including 5 of the 6 states that border Pennsylvania,” the legislators wrote in the co-sponsorship memo.

“But legal or not, Pennsylvanians are consuming marijuana, whether by visiting our bordering states, buying unregulated hemp loophole products at gas stations and vape shops, or purchasing in the illicit market,” they continued.

The memo, which invites fellow lawmakers to join Frankel and Krajewski in sponsoring the upcoming bill, maintains that decades of cannabis prohibition have failed to keep Pennsylvanians safe.

“Prohibition is a failed policy with significant consequences to our Commonwealth,” the memo reads. “It has ruined lives over minor cannabis offenses, disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities. Consumption of unregulated and dangerous products has increased. And we are losing millions of public revenue that our communities need.”

Lawmakers Held Hearings To Study Cannabis Legalization Efforts

Krajewski, who led the House Health Subcommittee on Health Care, chaired five legislative hearings during the last session to weigh the successes and failures of cannabis legalization in other states.

“We’ve heard from public health experts. We’ve heard from criminal justice and social equity advocates,” Krajewski said on Monday in a statement about the new bill. We’ve learned directly from states across the country how to get this done safely and efficiently, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in public revenue,” said Krajewski. “It’s time to move forward in Pennsylvania before we fall further behind.”

Frankel, the majority chair of the House Health Committee, said marijuana prohibition has been a disaster in Pennsylvania, particularly for communities of color.

“We have a moral obligation to not only legalize but also to work to repair the damage caused by decades of marijuana arrests,” Frankel said. “Our bill will deliver a market that protects the public health, benefits our taxpayers and uplifts those communities that were disproportionately harmed by prohibition policies.”

Legalization Bill Expunges Past Weed Convictions

To address the harms caused by marijuana prohibition, the legislation prioritizes expunging records of past cannabis-related offenses and “restorative justice for those affected by draconian drug policies.” The bill also includes provisions to invest funds raised by cannabis legalization to communities disproportionately harmed by the failed War on Drugs.

The bill also prioritizes public protections, including provisions to limit “excessive THC levels.” Additionally, the legislation seeks to establish a Pennsylvania cannabis industry that provides sustainable business opportunities for a local and diverse field of licensed operators.

“Prohibition was a reckless and racist policy which deliberately targeted and destroyed Black and Brown communities,” said Krajewski. “As a criminal justice organizer and chair of the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission, I’m fighting to ensure that we reinvest revenue generated from the cannabis industry into areas most impacted by the War on Drugs and ensure that those who are still dealing with criminal sentences and records are able to finally move on.”

In September, a different bipartisan pair of lawmakers introduced a bill to legalize cannabis in Pennsylvania and create a regulated market for adult-use cannabis. The bill was referred to the House health committee but has not been brought up for a vote.