Pennsylvania Lawmaker Offers New Plan to Legalize Adult-Use Cannabis

Pennsylvania still has its hat in the ring to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2025.

State Sen. Marty Flynn, D-Scranton, asked his colleagues on May 21 to co-sponsor the Keystone Cannabis Act, legislation he plans to introduce in the aftermath of the Senate Law and Justice Committee rejecting a partisan House legalization bill the previous week.

Flynn circulated a memo outlining his plan to establish a regulatory framework for cultivation, distribution and retail sales to allow adults 21 years and older to access cannabis that’s tested and taxed in the commonwealth.

“This legislation represents a commonsense opportunity to modernize our cannabis laws by delivering lasting economic benefits to communities across the commonwealth while balancing individual liberty with public safety,” Flynn wrote. “Adults should be free to make their own decisions about cannabis use—just as they do with alcohol and tobacco—without unnecessary government interference.”

For Flynn’s forthcoming bill to gain meaningful traction in Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled Senate, he’ll likely need to attract a Republican co-sponsor to champion the legislation.

After House Democrats passed an adult-use legalization bill entirely along party lines via a 102-101 vote earlier this month, it met a brick wall in the Senate Law and Justice Committee. Specifically, committee chairman Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, who supports adult-use legalization, spearheaded the bill’s demise because it included a novel state-run dispensary model.

The House Democrats had planned to allow the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to intertwine federally illegal adult-use cannabis sales with state-licensed alcohol establishments. Meanwhile, Laughlin supports establishing a separate Cannabis Control Board.

“I’ve made it pretty crystal clear that I do not believe that the state-store model that is included in House Bill 1200 has a path through the Senate, let alone through this committee,” Laughlin said during the committee hearing.

Although no state has legalized adult-use cannabis by way of a divided legislature, Laughlin is working with Sen. Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, on a bipartisan proposal this legislative session in the upper chamber. That duo circulated a co-sponsorship memo in February.

While Flynn’s forthcoming bill will compete with the Laughlin-Street proposal, neither legislation has yet been officially filed; however, Flynn outlined a few specifics for his proposal in the memo he circulated last week.

Key provisions in Flynn’s reform package include:

• Legalization for Adults 21+: This bill legalizes the possession, purchase and consumption of cannabis for adults, while maintaining strong safeguards to prevent youth access and impaired driving.
• A Well-Regulated Market: A regulatory structure under an independent commission, comprised of members of the Departments of Health, Agriculture, Community and Economic Development, PA Office of Attorney General, and State Police, will oversee cultivation, processing, testing and retail operations, ensuring safety, transparency and fairness in the marketplace.
• Commonwealth Community Reinvestment Fund: Revenues generated through cannabis sales—projected to exceed $500 million annually—will be deposited into a Community Reinvestment and Infrastructure Fund. These funds will be directed to:
  • Revitalizing rural communities through the creation of the RAEIZ (Rural Area Economic Investment Zone) Program, including grants for community redevelopment, attracting new business and expanding agricultural operations.
  • Expansion of the City Revitalization and Investment Zone Program by redefining the program as the Community Revitalization and Investment Zone, thereby allowing more areas to realize its benefits.
  • Critical Local infrastructure improvements, such as roads, bridges, public transit, water systems and broadband expansion.
  • Grants to municipalities to support law enforcement, public health and educational programs focused on substance use prevention and mental health.
• Social Equity Measures: The bill prioritizes licenses for applicants from communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition and includes expungement provisions for certain nonviolent cannabis-related convictions.
• Public Health and Safety: Cannabis products will be subject to strict labeling, packaging and testing standards. The bill includes dedicated funding for public education campaigns and substance abuse prevention.  Further, the legislation will mandate rigorous testing of all cannabis products by independent, certified laboratories to ensure product safety, potency and purity. Strict standards will be enforced to prevent falsified results or conflicts of interest, and testing facilities will be subject to regular audits and state oversight.

In December 2022, Flynn proposed legalizing cannabis through a state-store system, but his most recent memo steers clear of that idea in the wake of House Democrats failing to find bipartisan support for that approach.

Flynn pointed out that Pennsylvania’s 2025 legalization discussion continues at a time when the commonwealth’s medical-only cannabis laws are less permissive than its bordering neighbors, including New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Ohio.

“In short, legalization is no longer a question of if, but when,” Flynn wrote. “It is high time to create a cannabis economy that reinvests tax dollars into our communities, thereby creating even more revenue, promotes freedom while ensuring safety and security, stimulates economic growth, and invests in the communities that need it most.”