Pennsylvania Agriculture Department Is In A ‘Really Good’ Position To Oversee Marijuana Legalization Under Governor’s Plan, Secretary Says

Pennsylvania’s agriculture secretary says he’s absolutely assured that his division is in a “really good” place to supervise an adult-use marijuana program as proposed by the governor if lawmakers enact the reform.

During hearings earlier than the House and Senate Appropriations Committees this week, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding weighed in on numerous facet of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D) newest finances request, together with his proposal to legalize hashish this yr.

In basic, Redding mentioned that he appreciates the governor’s understanding that making a regulated system of gross sales represents a “reality check of the market and what’s playing out” in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. And so far as the position Shapiro envisions for his division in regulating the business, Redding mentioned “there’s not another agency that’s in-and-out of more food establishments and manufacturing facilities in Pennsylvania than we are.”

“We’ve got the regulatory structure. Our roots are there,” he mentioned on the Senate committee listening to.

The secretary mentioned at a number of factors that, whereas the agriculture division is uniquely suited to handle a future adult-use program, it’s necessary that it brings in “the expertise and the capacity” of the Department of Health, which presently oversees the state’s medical hashish program.

“So combined, we end up in a really good place to manage this,” he mentioned. “But it takes new resources. It takes new people. The governor’s office has committed to that, and then we have to figure out what’s the design.”

Generally talking, nonetheless, Redding argued that classes realized from the opposite two dozen states which have already enacted adult-use legalization has demonstrated the necessity to have “a single agency lead it,” and he’s ready to just do that along with his division.

Sen. Sharif Street (D), who’s planning to introduce bipartisan cannabis legalization legislation again this yr, mentioned the reform proposal he not too long ago introduced in partnership with a Republican senator, asking Redding for his ideas on doubtlessly making a Cannabis Control Board staffed by the agriculture division to supervise this system.

“Well, as as proposed by the governor, the agriculture would lead the adult-use cannabis effort, right? Meaning we would house it,” Redding responded. “We would lead it. We would manage it. We regulate it. And that’s all inside the Department of Agriculture, along with those various sort of advisory boards and committees. So we’re welcoming that.”

Yesterday’s finances listening to with the Department of Agriculture. A couple of issues I requested have been their ideas on how grownup use hashish can be welcomed and the way city agriculture is creating within the commonwealth. pic.twitter.com/eAy0E8fLaO

— Senator Sharif Street (@SenSharifStreet) February 28, 2025

At the House Appropriations Committee listening to, Rep. Eric Davanzo (R) pressed the secretary on the division’s involvement within the governor’s finances planning, asking whether or not he requested the coverage change and having agriculture run this system.

While Redding mentioned he didn’t individually make the request, he once more defended his company’s means to see the reform by means of.

“I do believe, as I said last year, that there’s an economic opportunity for the ag community,” he mentioned. “We’ve heard themes of that today about how do we protect them and enhance it? I think this is a really important difference between what the other 24 states are proposing. What Pennsylvania’s proposed will be the only state that will be administered by a state Department of Agriculture.”

He added that Pennsylvania is “the only state that is prioritized in the permitting, the opportunity for farmers to actually have a permit to grow” below the plan.

“So while we have folks who are interested in industrial hemp, there’s going to be folks who are interested in adult-use—and when you can produce a crop that’s got a margin compared to where a lot of the crops are today, it’s a good thing.”

He additionally affirmed to Davanzo that his division did contribute its perspective on the projected funding quantities included within the governor’s proposal.

Rep. Torren Ecker (R), the House GOP vice chair, sought clarification on whether or not the secretary is conscious of “any other states that have legalized marijuana that have used the Department of Agriculture for these programs.”

“No,” Redding mentioned.

Ecker requested him to develop on his ideas about why he feels the division must be tasked with that duty.

“I thought a lot about this,” the secretary mentioned. “The Department of Agriculture, we’re in and out of 47,000 food establishments, 7,300 greenhouses and nurseries. I mean, we’re talking about plants. We’re talking about a commodity. This is a regulatory structure. It’s really, at the end of the day, it’s a commodity.”

“And how we manage the commodity? I think this is what we’ve done. Our roots are in roots, right?” he mentioned. “So I really feel like we can do this with all the confidence, with a partnership with the Department of Health and the medical marijuana program, so I take as a vote of confidence. I think it’s an opportunity.”

The secretary largely echoed feedback he made the final time the governor proposed a regulatory framework for marijuana that was centered across the agriculture division.

About this time final yr, Redding mentioned he was “excited” about the opportunity of his company overseeing the adult-use marijuana market. And he mentioned the state was uniquely positioned to leverage the reform, partly as a result of farmers there are “really good at growing things.”

Meanwhile, earlier this month, high Pennsylvania police and well being officers informed lawmakers they are prepared to implement marijuana legalization if the legislature strikes ahead with the reform—and that they stand able to work collectively as the small print of laws to attain it are crafted.

Separately, amid the rising requires marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, a GOP state senator says prohibition has been a “disaster,” and a regulated gross sales mannequin for hashish—much like how alcohol and tobacco are dealt with—may function an efficient various.

Voters are able to see that coverage change, according to a poll released earlier this month.

The survey, commissioned by the advocacy group ResponsiblePA, discovered that just about 7 in 10 voters within the state help the reform—together with a majority of Republicans. And 63 p.c need to see the legislature enact the reform this yr, somewhat than delaying it.

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While Shapiro as soon as once more included a proposal to enact hashish legalization in his newest finances request, there’s been blended suggestions from legislators—a few of whom need to see the governor extra proactively come to the desk to debate potential pathways for reform and others skeptical about the opportunity of advancing the problem this session.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin (R), for instance, mentioned this month that he doesn’t “see any path whatsoever” to enacting legalization according to the governor’s plan.

At the identical time, the state secretary for the Department of Revenue has predicted that Shapiro’s proposal may very well be handed in the course of the present finances cycle, indicating that he feels reform may begin to be applied inside months.

House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D), in the meantime, mentioned following the governor’s finances speech that “there is real diversity of opinions among our members,” possible referencing break up views on regulatory fashions, with some lawmakers pushing for a state-run hashish program.

He additionally mentioned not too long ago that he feels the time is ripe to advance marijuana reform this session, saying “it strikes me as abdicating our responsibility to protect our communities and our children, and at the same time, we are losing revenue that is going to go into our neighboring states.”

Key lawmakers have expressed skepticism about the governor’s ability to see through the cannabis reform he’s proposing, nonetheless.

“The governor needs to lead on something. If he wants something done, he needs to lead on it,” Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R) mentioned. “He can’t throw an idea out there—which he did last year—and say, ‘Let the legislature figure it out. I’ll sign it. Then I’ll go do press conferences all over the state.’”

House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R) was additionally requested in regards to the prospect of enacting numerous of the governor’s finances proposals, together with marijuana. And he mentioned whereas he’s “not going to speak for the governor,” there’s “one person that has the ability to bring those deals together—and that is the governor.”

He referenced current remarks from Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) who mentioned there are logistical challenges to advancing legalization that he’s uncertain lawmakers will be capable of overcome.

The suggestions from GOP lawmakers is paying homage to earlier criticism from the caucus in regards to the governor, who they’ve claimed has made the call for reform without meaningfully engaging with the legislature about methods to get it achieved.

Also, the brand new Republican state legal professional basic of Pennsylvania not too long ago raised issues about the “potential harm that could be caused criminally” by enacting the reform.

The Republican chair of a key Senate committee not too long ago mentioned he’s anticipating to take up laws this yr that may make Pennsylvania the twenty fifth within the U.S. to legalize adult-use marijuana. He additionally thinks that more of his GOP colleagues could get on board with the reform quickly than have previously.

While many legalization advocates and observers suppose Pennsylvania is among the many more than likely states to cross a leisure marijuana legislation this session, the satan is within the particulars. One lawmaker has floated a relatively simple bill to decriminalize personal possession, whereas two others plan to introduce more sweeping legislation that would legalize through a state-run system of stores.

Laughlin final spring launched a invoice meant to remove state barriers to medical marijuana patients carrying firearms. While it didn’t transfer ahead, the lawmaker mentioned within the current interview that he believes political help for legalization extra broadly has been constructing.

The senator mentioned an occasion final May that the state is “getting close” to legalizing marijuana, however the job will only get done if House and Senate leaders sit down with the governor and “work it out.”

Reps. Dan Frankel (D) and Rick Krajewski (D) introduced in December that they deliberate to file legalization laws, emphasizing that there’s a “moral obligation” to repair harms of criminalization whereas additionally elevating income as neighboring state markets mature.

Frankel mentioned sponsors hope for a vote on the invoice “sometime early spring,” although questions stay as as to whether the legislature can be prepared to get behind the push to finish hashish prohibition, particularly by means of the state-run gross sales mannequin he’s proposing.

A separate decriminalization measure, in the meantime, from Pennsylvania Rep. Danilo Burgos (D), would make simple possession of cannabis a summary offense punishable by a $100 fine without the threat of jail time. Currently, low-level possession is taken into account a misdemeanor, carrying a penalty of as much as 30 days in jail, a most $500 advantageous or each.

Additionally, in September, bipartisan Reps. Aaron Kaufer (R) and Kinkead formally introduced a bipartisan marijuana legalization bill, alongside 15 different cosponsors.

In July, the governor mentioned his administration and lawmakers would “come back and continue to fight” for marijuana legalization and different coverage priorities that have been omitted from finances laws he signed into legislation that month.

As for medical marijuana, the governor in October signed a bill to correct an omission in a law that unintentionally excluded dispensaries from state-level tax reduction for the medical marijuana business.

About three months after the legislature approved the underlying budget bill that Shapiro signed containing tax reform provisions as a partial workaround to a federal ban on tax deductions for hashish companies, the Pennsylvania legislature handed corrective laws.

Separately, at a Black Cannabis Week occasion hosted not too long ago by the Diasporic Alliance for Cannabis Opportunities (DACO) in October, Street and Reps. Chris Rabb (D), Amen Brown (D), Darisha Parker (D) and Napoleon Nelson (D) joined activists to discuss their legislative priorities and motivations behind advancing legalization within the Keystone State.

Other lawmakers have additionally emphasized the urgency of legalizing as soon as possible given regional dynamics, whereas signaling that legislators are near aligning House and Senate proposals.

As for hashish and gun possession, Laughlin had been wanting on the concern for greater than a yr earlier than introducing final yr’s invoice, writing last February to the state’s acting police commissioner to “strongly encourage” he evaluate a federal ruling that the U.S. government’s ban on gun ownership by people who use marijuana is unconstitutional.

Since then, additional federal courtroom instances have questioned the constitutionality of the federal firearm ban. A federal choose in El Paso, for instance, not too long ago dominated that the continuing ban on gun possession by routine marijuana customers was unconstitutional in the case of a defendant who earlier pleaded guilty to the criminal charge. The courtroom allowed the person to withdraw the plea and ordered that the indictment towards him be dismissed.

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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.