www.inquirer.com Open in urlscan Pro
2600:141b:5000::173f:4c93  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

https://www.inquirer.com/subscribe_today/

<form class="flex justify-center items-center w-full sm:w-auto
        " action="https://www.inquirer.com/subscribe_today/"><button aria-label="Subscribe" class="inq-button-ds cursor-pointer font-grot10 !normal-case !text-md !leading-5 min-h-[40px] px-6 py-2.5 !font-medium 
    text-white inline-flex 
    justify-center items-center text-center 
    not-italic rounded 
    box-border focus:ring-4 
    transition-all duration-300 ease-out inq-button-ds--secondary bg-transparent hover:bg-transparent !border !border-solid !text-black border-black hover:border-gray-mid-neutral
      focus:!bg-white focus:ring-4 focus:ring-silversand
      active:ring-0 active:!bg-gray-mid-neutral active:!text-white lg:!hidden w-full sm:w-auto sm:min-w-[190px] lg:min-w-0 my-2" data-link-type="global-nav">Subscribe</button></form>

https://www.inquirer.com/donate/

<form class="flex justify-center items-center w-full sm:w-auto
        lg:hidden" action="https://www.inquirer.com/donate/"><button aria-label="Support local news" class="inq-button-ds cursor-pointer font-grot10 !normal-case !text-md !leading-5 min-h-[40px] px-6 py-2.5 !font-medium 
    text-white inline-flex 
    justify-center items-center text-center 
    not-italic rounded 
    box-border focus:ring-4 
    transition-all duration-300 ease-out inq-button-ds--secondary bg-transparent hover:bg-transparent !border !border-solid !text-black border-black hover:border-gray-mid-neutral
      focus:!bg-white focus:ring-4 focus:ring-silversand
      active:ring-0 active:!bg-gray-mid-neutral active:!text-white support-local-news-btn w-full sm:w-auto sm:min-w-[190px] lg:min-w-0 my-2" data-link-type="global-nav">Support local news</button></form>

Text Content

Skip to content
Friday, December 1, 2023
Today's Paper

Sign In / Sign Up
Sign inSUBSCRIBE

Keep reading by creating a free account or signing in.
Sign in/Sign up
Subscribe
Support local news
Sign out
NewsSportsBettingBusinessOpinionPoliticsEntertainmentLifeFoodHealthReal
EstateObituariesJobs

News

New JerseyPennsylvaniaPoliticsCoronavirusNation &
WorldEducationPhotographyVideoObituaries
Sports

Gameday CentralEaglesPhilliesSixersFlyersUnionCollege SportsHigh School
SportsBetting
Opinion

ColumnistsCommentaryEditorialsCartoons
Business

JobsEconomyMarijuanaPhillyDealsSmall BusinessHealth & PharmaConsumer
Entertainment

Things To DoArts & CultureMoviesTVCelebrityComicsPuzzles
Life

Sex & LoveFamiliesStyleThe UpsideHomeTravel
Opinion

ColumnistsCommentaryEditorialsCartoons
Life

Sex & LoveFamiliesStyleThe UpsideHomeTravel
Food


Health


Real Estate


El Inquirer


Philly Tips
Philly’s BestHow to Philly
People
BirthsCelebrationsEngagementsObituariesDeath Notices
Your Day
Today's PaperNewslettersWeatherHoroscopeLotteryInquirer Events
Get In Touch
AdvertiseContact UsAbout The InquirerDiversity & InclusionJobs &
InternshipsNewsroom StaffPermissionsReprints
Marketplace
Inquirer StoreGift SubscriptionsJob ListingsAll ClassifiedsLegal Notices

SUBSCRIBE



4¢ a day for 4 months

 * Opinion
 * Commentary

Share Icon
Facebook Logo
Share on Facebook
Twitter
Share on Twitter
Email
Share via Email
Link Icon
Copy Link
Link copied to clipboard


PENNSYLVANIA IS SURROUNDED BY STATES WHERE CANNABIS IS LEGAL FOR ADULTS. WE’RE
GETTING LEFT BEHIND.

Critics of legal access often raise concerns about safety, but regulated access
is safer than what we have now. Plus, all the revenue is going to other states
or the illicit market.


Richard Jester (left), who uses marijuana to help with the pain he experiences
from spinal stenosis, and his fiancée, Diane Estlow (second from left), wait in
line at The Botanist in Williamstown, on the first day of recreational cannabis
sales in New Jersey, Thursday, April 21, 2022.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff
Photographer
by Meredith Buettner, For The Inquirer
Published Dec. 1, 2023, 9:00 a.m. ET



On Election Day last month, Ohio residents voted overwhelmingly to make it legal
for adults to use cannabis recreationally.



On this issue, Pennsylvania is getting left behind.



With five out of six surrounding states already regulating cannabis for adult
use, most Pennsylvanians live in a county that touches a legal state.
Pennsylvania should join its neighbors and legalize cannabis to ensure safe
access, right the wrongs of cannabis prohibition, and stop revenue from bleeding
across the borders of the commonwealth.



It’s an issue with strong support among Pennsylvania voters; two in three
support legalization. Gov. Josh Shapiro signaled his support of legalization in
his 2023-2024 budget, and there is a bipartisan state Senate bill to make that
happen.





Critics of legal access often raise concerns about safety, but regulated access
is safer than what we have now, with only medical marijuana patients able to
access regulated cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation, and other consumers
forced into the illicit market.



When cannabis is regulated for use by adults 21 and over, youth access is
diminished because consumers must show proof of age to buy products, while
childproof packaging and regulations strictly prohibit marketing to children.
Without legal access, consumers in Pennsylvania are purchasing unregulated,
intoxicating products at smoke shops, convenience stores, or on the illicit
market. These products are not regulated, and their sellers have no regard for
consumer age or safety.





Plus, with so many nearby states offering legal recreational use, Pennsylvanians
are simply driving across the border for legal weed — and taking their
pocketbooks with them. Each purchase in a neighboring state represents lost
revenue for Pennsylvania. With an estimated consumer base of two million
individuals and annual sales projected to be in the billions of dollars, we must
capture the revenue generated by cannabis sales instead of watching our
neighboring states spend it.



In a state that requires a balanced budget, the legislature must try to raise
revenue without raising taxes. Regulating cannabis for adult use will generate a
new revenue stream — likely hundreds of millions per year — that can offset the
need to raise taxes. Each year Pennsylvania delays adult-use legalization, it
misses the potential to offset a looming budget deficit.





By acting now, the legislature can ensure that the job creation, investment, and
revenue realized from legal cannabis remains in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s
medical program has already created more than 23,000 jobs across the state, and
legalization will spur continued job and salary growth.



By comparison, a state with a similar population size to Pennsylvania — Illinois
— has delivered more than $1 billion in revenues since sales of legal cannabis
began in 2020. The Prairie State anticipates more than 60,000 people will be
employed by the industry in 2025. Each day we fail to act results in potential
jobs, revenue, and investment crossing our borders into Delaware, New Jersey,
New York, Maryland, and Ohio.



Legalizing cannabis can make it easier for law enforcement to do their job, as
well. The elimination of prosecutions related to personal possession of cannabis
will result in significant savings in time and resources in the justice system.
Roughly 20,000 Pennsylvanians are arrested every year for marijuana possession;
statewide regulation would allow police to allocate their limited resources to
more serious crimes.



Thanks to the state’s infrastructure related to medical marijuana, we have
proven that cannabis can be safely produced and securely delivered to
Pennsylvanians through an existing and robust supply chain. By expanding this
existing infrastructure to include recreational use, we can keep that job and
economic growth going (and beat the illicit market) while continuing this
demonstrated legacy of security and compliance.



Pennsylvania should join neighboring states and regulate cannabis for adult use.
To make it happen, the state legislature must quickly engage the cannabis
industry, law enforcement, health-care experts, social equity advocates, and
consumers.



By relying on existing medical marijuana infrastructure, the commonwealth can
promptly establish a safe and reliable market while creating jobs and capturing
revenue that is seeping across state lines.



Meredith Buettner is the executive director of the Pennsylvania Cannabis
Coalition, the state’s cannabis trade association.








About Us
About The InquirerDiversity & InclusionAdvertiseContact UsLicensing &
PermissionsPhoto ReprintsNewspapers in EducationJobs & InternshipsInquirer
EventsAcel Moore WorkshopsNewsroom Staff
News & Info
NewsSportsSports BettingEntertainmentBusiness
HealthFoodLifeOpinionArchivesSpecial Reports
Marketplace
SubscribeInquirer StoreJob ListingsAll Classifieds
Death NoticesLegal NoticesGift Subscriptions
e-Editions
The InquirerThe Daily NewsSubscriber Services
Mobile Apps
Apple iOSGoogle Android
TwitterFacebookInstagram
© 2023 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC
Terms of Use/Privacy Policy/Cancellation Policy/California Notice/
California residents do not sell my data request