Pennsylvania Governor Should Lead On Marijuana Legalization By Convening Bipartisan Lawmakers For Negotiations, Advocates Say

As Pennsylvania’s governor promotes his latest call for marijuana legalization in the Keystone State, a coalition of drug policy and civil liberties organizations are urging him to play a leadership role in convening legislative leaders to get the job done this session.

Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) renewed his push for legalization in his newest budget request—the third in a row to include the proposed reform—and he discussed the issue during an interview with WPVI-TV Philadelphia last week.

Asked whether he expects lawmakers to heed his call, Shapiro said “if they show up for work, there’s no reason why they can’t do it.”

“I think what’s clear is that this is an issue of competitiveness. Go across the bridge into Jersey: Over 60 percent of the people there purchasing cannabis legally and paying taxes to New Jersey are people from Pennsylvania, so we’re losing out on the revenue, and we continue to have markets that are illegal,” he said. “I’d rather regulate it and make it safer.”

Advocates are aligned with that plan, but they’re asking the governor to do more to “make adult-use cannabis legalization a top priority in 2026,” in part by convening “five-party leadership discussions with the House and Senate to finally deliver this long-overdue reform.”

In a letter led by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and sent to the governor on Thursday, the coalition noted that legalization has consistently made it into Shapiro’s budget requests, “reflecting both sound fiscal policy and the clear will of the people of the Commonwealth.”

“In addition, multiple bipartisan adult-use bills have been introduced in both chambers of the General Assembly, demonstrating that this issue transcends party lines and is ripe for action,” they wrote. “Yet Pennsylvania continues to fall further behind. As surrounding states implement adult-use cannabis programs, the Commonwealth is losing out on thousands of good-paying jobs, hundreds of millions in tax revenue, and significant economic development opportunities—benefits that are instead flowing across our borders.”

“This competitive disadvantage grows more pronounced with each year of inaction,” the letter, which was also signed by groups including the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, Last Prisoner Project (LPP) and Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), said.

“Most critically, the failure to enact adult-use regulations and meaningful decriminalization continues to impose profound human costs,” it continues. “Thousands of Pennsylvanians are arrested, jailed, or otherwise entangled in the criminal justice system each year for non-violent cannabis offenses—conduct that is legal and unpunished in nearly every neighboring state.”

With a federal marijuana rescheduling proposal pending and more states moving to enact adult-use legalization, “the Commonwealth is unmistakably behind the times,” they said. “The momentum is clear, the policy case is well-established, and public support is overwhelming.”

“We respectfully ask that you include adult-use cannabis legalization in the five-party talks you referenced in your February 3rd budget address to establish a clear, collaborative path forward in 2026. Doing so would align Pennsylvania with national trends, advance economic and workforce goals, and most importantly, end the unnecessary criminalization of Pennsylvanians for simple cannabis possession and use that the public overwhelmingly agrees should no longer be punished.”

Pennsylvania House Democratic lawmakers have separately called on the GOP-controlled Senate to come to the table and pass a bill to legalize marijuana.

At a press conference last week, three Democratic members of the House who have championed adult-use legalization stressed the need to move on reform, laying blame for inaction on the Senate where even supporters of the policy change have so far been unable to deliver on the issue.

Reps. Rick Krajewski (D) and Dan Frankel (D), who sponsored a bill to legalize with state-run shops that advanced through the House last year, said they understand that the novel regulatory approach they envisioned may be “controversial” to some members, but that’s all the more reason for the Senate to bring their own ideas to the conversation to finally enact the reform.

House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) said in December that legalizing marijuana is one way to create a “very important” revenue source for the state—and that it’s an achievable reform if only legislators could find “the will to do it.”

Bipartisan Pennsylvania lawmakers who’ve been working to enact adult-use legalization over recent sessions without success so far have also recently said that President Donald Trump’s federal marijuana rescheduling order could grease the wheels in 2026.

For what it’s worth, another top GOP senator—Sen. Scott Martin (R), chair of the chamber’s Appropriations Committee—said in December that he was skeptical about the prospects of enacting legalization in the 2026 session, in part because of the federal classification of cannabis that’s now expected to change. Of course, marijuana would still be federally illegal under Schedule III, so it’s unclear if a simple loosening of the law would move the needle enough from his perspective.

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A top aide to Pennsylvania’s governor said in September that lawmakers should stop introducing new competing legalization bills and instead focus on building consensus on the issue—while emphasizing that any measure that advances needs to contain equity provisions if the governor is going to sign it into law.

Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), for his part, said in August that the House “needs to pass the language in my bill and send it to my committee” after which point he “can negotiate with the Senate and the governor.”

The senator separately said recently that supporters are “picking up votes” to enact the reform this session.

Meanwhile, bipartisan Pennsylvania senators in October introduced a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to use of medical marijuana in hospitals.

Separately, the leading Republican candidate in the race to become the next governor of Pennsylvania dodged a question about her stance on legalizing marijuana—saying she doesn’t have a “policy position” on the issue and arguing that the sitting governor’s proposal for reform “way, way overstated” potential revenue.

The candidate, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity (R), pointed to neighboring Ohio, which launched its own adult-use cannabis market this year, saying “they generated about $115 million in revenue.” And while the populations of both states are relatively comparable, Shapiro’s budget projected $536.5 million in cannabis revenue in the first fiscal year of implementation.

She did, however, say that if Pennsylvania moves forward on enacting the reform, she’ll “make sure that it’s banked appropriately.”

Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania Democratic senator recently said that federal marijuana rescheduling would be “very influential” in advancing legalization in his state, giving “political cover” to GOP members on the fence about reform.

Polls have shown bipartisan support for legalization among voters, but the reform has consistently stalled in the legislature, due largely to GOP opposition. But not all Republican members are against the policy change—and one recently said she felt her party should seize the “opportunity to snatch” the issue from Democrats.

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.