The governor of Pennsylvania has once again included a proposal to legalize marijuana in his budget request—calling on the legislature to enact the “long overdue” reform, even if it seems “complicated.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) has called for legalization in his previous two budget requests, projecting a significant windfall of tax revenue for the Keystone State which he says is currently being lost to surrounding states that have implemented legal cannabis markets.
Shapiro said in his latest budget address on Tuesday that coming to embrace marijuana legalization as a father and former state attorney general “was hard for me.”
“But I took the time to study it and understand the impacts—to understand the choice between continuing the black market of drug dealing versus a highly-regulated industry with protections in place for our children,” he said. “Letting this business operate in the shadows doesn’t make sense. And by doing nothing, we’re making Pennsylvania less competitive.”
“Besides, let’s not kid ourselves. Pennsylvanians who want to buy cannabis are just driving across the border to one of our neighbors,” the governor said. “Five of our neighboring states have legalized adult-use cannabis. “I’ve talked to the CEOs of the companies right across the border in
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