Pennsylvania Lawmaker Launches Push To Decriminalize Marijuana Possession In 2025

A Pennsylvania lawmaker has announced his intent to file bill to decriminalize marijuana possession in the 2025 session—a modest reform that comes as other legislators plan to step up their push for broader legalization of the adult-use cannabis market.

Rep. Danilo Burgos (D) circulated a cosponsorship memo on Tuesday that previews the decriminalization legislation, which 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 considered a misdemeanor, carrying a penalty of up to 30 days in jail, a maximum $500 fine or both.

“In the U.S., more than 90 percent of cannabis-related arrests are due to cannabis possession alone,” Burgos said in the memo. “Low-level cannabis convictions potentially cause lifelong consequences as a result of the criminal convictions they carry.”

“These consequences can include difficulty finding housing and employment among other unfair barriers,” he said. “Furthermore, the prosecution of these crimes disproportionately affects people of color.”

The lawmaker said the forthcoming legislation represents a “vital step in reforming our criminal justice system and reducing racial disparities,” urging colleagues to join him as cosponsors to “create a more equitable criminal justice system and ensure taxpayers dollars are no longer wasted on low-level cannabis offenses.”

While advocates would agree that decriminalization would represents a positive step, they’re vying for a greater leap in the upcoming session by fully legalizing marijuana for adults.

To that end, Rep. Dan Frankel (D) recently announced a cannabis legalization bill alongside Rep. Rick Krajewski (D) that calls for a novel state-run sales model.

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

Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) is on board with ending prohibition in the Keystone state, and he said this month that he plans to once again call for the reform as part of his next budget proposal.

In July, the governor said his administration and lawmakers would “come back and continue to fight” for marijuana legalization and other policy priorities that were omitted from budget legislation he signed into law that month.

Meanwhile, a top GOP Pennsylvania senator who has long expressed concerns about marijuana legalization told advocates recently that she’s against arresting people over cannabis, noting that the policy change could protect her son and disclosing that if it weren’t for marijuana, she might not have met her husband, according to an activist who spoke with her.

As Pennsylvania’s legislature reconvenes amid rising pressure to enact legalization, advocates view the comments from Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R) as a positive sign that the dam on cannabis reform measures might be weakening in the commonwealth.

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 relief for the medical marijuana industry.

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 cannabis businesses, the Pennsylvania legislature passed corrective legislation.

Separately, at a Black Cannabis Week event hosted recently 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 in the Keystone State.

Other lawmakers have also emphasized the urgency of legalizing as soon as possible given regional dynamics, while signaling that legislators are close to aligning House and Senate proposals.

Recent data has also underscored the urgency of enacting cannabis reform, revealing that more than 12,000 people were arrested for cannabis possession in the Keystone state last year.

Meanwhile, a report commissioned by activists projected that Pennsylvania would see up to $2.8 billion in adult-use marijuana sales in the first year of implementing legalization, generate as much as $720 million in tax revenue and create upwards of 45,000 jobs.

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Sen. Sharif Street (D) was also among advocates and lawmakers who participated in a cannabis rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in June, where there was a significant emphasis on the need to incorporate social equity provisions as they move to advance legalization.

Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), another longtime advocate for reform, also said an event in May that the state is “getting close” to legalizing marijuana, but the job will only get done if House and Senate leaders sit down with the governor and “work it out.”

Warren County, Pennsylvania District Attorney Robert Greene, a registered medical cannabis patient in the state, filed a lawsuit in federal court in January seeking to overturn a ban preventing medical marijuana patients from buying and possessing firearms.

Two Pennsylvania House panels held a joint hearing to discuss marijuana legalization in April, with multiple lawmakers asking the state’s top liquor regulator about the prospect of having that agency run cannabis shops.

Also in April, members of the House Health Committee had a conversation centered on social justice and equity considerations for reform.

At a prior meeting in March, members focused on criminal justice implications of prohibition and the potential benefits of reform.

At another hearing in February, members looked at the industry perspective, with multiple stakeholders from cannabis growing, dispensing and testing businesses, as well as clinical registrants, testifying.

At the subcommittee’s previous cannabis meeting last December, members heard testimony and asked questions about various elements of marijuana oversight, including promoting social equity and business opportunities, laboratory testing and public versus private operation of a state-legal cannabis industry.

Last year, Shapiro signed a bill to allow all licensed medical marijuana grower-processors in the state to sell their cannabis products directly to patients.

Separately, Pennsylvania’s prior governor separately signed a bill into law in July 2022 that included provisions to protect banks and insurers in the state that work with licensed medical marijuana businesses.

Wisconsin GOP Senate President Is Hopeful About Legalizing Medical Marijuana In 2025, But Says Assembly Leader Poses ‘Obstacle’

Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.