Bipartisan PA Senators Want To Eliminate Qualifying Conditions For Medical Marijuana & Allow Doctors To Prescribe

Pennsylvania Senator Mike Regan (R) and Senator James Brewster (D) seek to introduce legislation that would remove the list of qualifying conditions required to access medical marijuana.

The duo also wants to authorize physicians to prescribe controlled substances, eliminate the requirement for renewing a medical marijuana card and examine a license parity for cultivators and processors in the Keystone state, reported ABC 27.

“I have driven home the need to take on the drug cartels while providing Pennsylvanians with a safe, trustworthy product that is not cost prohibitive. We can still achieve those goals within our existing medical marijuana program and prevent residents from crossing into states that have legalized adult-use marijuana, but to do so we must update the law and make needed changes to the existing Medical Marijuana Program,” the two senators wrote in the memo, according to ABC.

The bill would also ask for a Senate confirmation for the Director of the Office of Medical Marijuana. Senators Regan and Brewster invited fellow lawmakers to help them pass the bill “that will allow our medical program to thrive and better serve its patients.”

Cannabis In Pennsylvania 

Some seven years ago, the state governor Tom Wolf signed a bill legalizing medical cannabis. In January this year, Wolf granted his final 369 pardons, adding up to a total of 2,540 issued during his tenure.

Nearly a quarter of the total number of pardons were cannabis related, including 395 that were part of the expedited review process for nonviolent marijuana-related offenses and 232 granted under the PA Marijuana Pardon Project, according to a press release.

"Every single one of the Pennsylvanians who made it through the process truly deserves their second chance, and it's been my honor to grant it," Gov. Wolf said  "A record prevents positive forward motion in a person's life and can spark a repetitive cycle of defeat. I firmly believe that with restored rights, pardoned Pennsylvanians prove themselves by stepping up and giving back to our communities."

In late June 2022, Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee approved a measure to protect medical marijuana patients from being charged with driving under the influence.

Under the bill (Senate Bill 167) medical cannabis is to be equally treated like any other prescription narcotic, requiring proof of impairment of the person's ability to drive to be charged with DUI.

Several months later, the legislation from Sen. Camera Bartolotta, (R) was “laid on the table” in the Senate.

In November, the state’s Department of Health launched a program offering $50 a month in financial assistance to help nearly 1,400 senior citizens afford the cost of medical marijuana.

While PA is continuously working on improving its medical marijuana program, its recreational cannabis laws remain harsh. According to a last year’s report from the Marijuana Policy Project, Pennsylvania was one of 19 states where marijuana possession is penalized with possible imprisonment and a criminal record.

State police data revealed that 12,439 adults and 1,057 juveniles were arrested for simple cannabis possession in 2021. While the total number of arrests shows a declining trend - a 30% drop between 2020 and 2021 - figures are still high, considering that both neighboring New Jersey and New York have fully legalized the plant.

What’s more, a 2022 CBS News poll revealed that the majority (66%) of registered voters want to see marijuana legal. 

Photo: Benzinga Edit with images by Jakub Matyáš and Jeremy Alford on Unsplash