A Pennsylvania House committee will convene for an informational meeting next week to hear from experts about adult-use cannabis legalization as legislators chart a path for the reform, with the panel’s chairman considering the possibility of incorporating a state-run cannabis sales model.
While the House Health Subcommittee on Health Care will not take up any specific legislation at its November 1 hearing, members will have the chance to listen to testimony from professors, advocates and addiction specialists about the health considerations of moving forward with legalization in the Keystone State. The subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Dan Frankel (D), who has previously sponsored cannabis legalization legislation and circulated a cosponsorship memo earlier this year previewing plans to file another reform bill this session.
Frankel told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Tuesday that the measure he’s planning to introduce early next year will likely be “quite different” from the version he previously sponsored, and it will be partly informed by the meetings members hold in his panel. The lawmaker expects there will be two or three meetings to discuss the reform before a final bill is brought to the full committee.
“My framework for addressing this overall, which is what we’ll try to fit into this hearing, is as we move forward with an adult-use bill, focusing on for safety, equity—particularly with respect to restorative justice—and also revenue for the state and access for folks,” Frankel said.