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Pa. lawmakers propose legalizing marijuana, selling it through state liquor stores
HARRISBURG — Three separate proposals are planned by Pennsylvania lawmakers seeking to legalize recreational marijuana, provide social justice to those with low-level marijuana convictions and reap the tax benefits from a potential billion-dollar industry.
Two co-sponsorship memos circulating in the House and Senate propose selling marijuana in state-owned liquor stores, restricting possession and use to adults at least 21 years of age.
The memos respectively filed by state Rep. David Delloso, D-Delaware, and state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-Lackawanna/Lehigh, would also permit Pennsylvanians to cultivate and process up to six plants for personal use. Mandating sales through the state system would give the commonwealth a monopoly over liquor and marijuana sales and align the industry with union labor. Both Delloso and Flynn receive strong union support, campaign finance records show.
“Using the existing state store system will not only ensure the safety and integrity of cannabis sales in the commonwealth, but also will prevent large, out-of-state corporations from dominating the industry. This will ensure that profits remain in the commonwealth, and that those profits will not supersede the well-being of our communities,” Flynn wrote.
The third memo co-authored by state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, and state Rep. Donna Bullock, D-Philadelphia, doesn’t propose sales through the state liquor system. It does target five central goals: Consumer safety, social justice, economic equity, substance abuse prevention and revenue.
Two co-sponsorship memos circulating in the House and Senate propose selling marijuana in state-owned liquor stores, restricting possession and use to adults at least 21 years of age.
The memos respectively filed by state Rep. David Delloso, D-Delaware, and state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-Lackawanna/Lehigh, would also permit Pennsylvanians to cultivate and process up to six plants for personal use. Mandating sales through the state system would give the commonwealth a monopoly over liquor and marijuana sales and align the industry with union labor. Both Delloso and Flynn receive strong union support, campaign finance records show.
“Using the existing state store system will not only ensure the safety and integrity of cannabis sales in the commonwealth, but also will prevent large, out-of-state corporations from dominating the industry. This will ensure that profits remain in the commonwealth, and that those profits will not supersede the well-being of our communities,” Flynn wrote.
The third memo co-authored by state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, and state Rep. Donna Bullock, D-Philadelphia, doesn’t propose sales through the state liquor system. It does target five central goals: Consumer safety, social justice, economic equity, substance abuse prevention and revenue.
- more at link -
Just a few short years ago, the Legislature was talking about sundowning the state liquor stores. Now they want to hand them a billion-dollar lifeline?
