Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday that he recently met with cannabis dispensary owners from Maryland, Ohio, New York and New Jersey. He wanted to ask them how many of their customers at stores near the Pennsylvania border were crossing state lines to buy their products. Their response, he said: over 60%.
"Pennsylvanians are buying cannabis, but now what's happening is they're paying taxes in other states," Shapiro said. "We need to change that. We need to be more competitive."
It wasn't the first time Shapiro has come out in favor of legalizing recreational adult-use cannabis. He advocated for it in his budget address last year. Still, despite some legislative efforts, no legalization bill made substantive progress in the legislature, though public polling (albeit paid for by a pro-cannabis advocacy group) shows broad support for legalization. But Shapiro and other advocates believe the new legislative session that started this month could be different. For starters, state spending increases supported by Shapiro and other Democrats in the last budget are projected to shrink the state's surplus funds. And no one wants to raise taxes to fill that gap.
Advocates are hoping that will be incentive enough for Republicans in the state Senate, where they have a majority, to more seriously consider passing a recreational cannabis bill. Kate Flessner, a spokesperson for Sen. Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) said "this issue is multifaceted, and proposals would need to first be vetted by standing committees, before advancing further and receiving input by each of our members."
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