Pennsylvania Makes Last Bid Ditch For Legislative Reform of Cannabis Laws in 2014

The Pennsylvania State Legislature came close to moving forward on finalizing a medical cannabis reform law recently. While industry watchers doubt the initiative will be successful within this year, the story on the grapevine is reform isn’t very far away.

After fast tracking the issue for the last days of the legislative session and a successful vote in the state senate, the bill now awaits action in the Pennsylvania House.  Current governor, Tom Corbett is likely to veto the bill as he has said he would do.  

Corbett however has been trailing Democratic candidate Tom Wolf in the polls.  If Corbett wins, he has plans for a pilot medical cannabis program to start next year.  Wolf, however, supports legalizing cannabis and decriminalization.  If he wins, reform in Pennsylvania could get a much needed boost either by legislative action or voter driven reform.

Given the fact that much of New England plus New York State have now legalized at least medical use, it is unlikely that Pennsylvania won’t remain an East Coast outlier for long.  No matter who wins the Governor’s race, events in Florida are expected to dramatically shape— or at the very least, speed up—medical access debates across the country, particularly on the East Coast.  Pennsylvania could very well line up behind states now already planning to put some kind of reform on the ballot in 2016.  If medical reform of any kind moves ahead in Pennsylvania, full adult use measures may also be on the Pennsylvania state ballot come the presidential elections in 2016.

National organizers are already establishing field offices in strategic states around the country including California, Arkansas, Nevada and Texas.  Given clear indications in Pennsylvania that at least moderate medical reform is in the verge, an upswing of  voter support is presumed to be given a vital boost.