A Pittsburgh state maker has unveiled a new bill in Pennsylvania that would legalize recreational marijuana.
Democratic state Rep. Jake Wheatley said House Bill 2050 would create “a dynamic permitting structure for growers, processors and dispensaries, allowing any size company to enter the legal cannabis market.”
According to Wheatley, some of the money from legal cannabis sales would go toward children’s after-school programs, student loan forgiveness and affordable housing.
The bill would also mean that people would have their convictions for nonviolent drug offenses expunged.
It was last year that Wheatley had introduced House Bill 50, which allows adults 21 and older to purchase marijuana and have up to six plants, with three flowering. Using the drug in public and driving under the influence of marijuana would remain illegal.
Wheatley said the updated legislation was a result of feedback from people who suggested improvements to the original bill.
“Even if some of my colleagues aren’t willing to be a part of getting it right, people from all over the state have shown how much passion they have for this issue, and it made it really easy to want to make improvements to my bill,” Wheatley said in a memorandum.