Pennsylvania Auditor General Calls For Marijuana Legalization In Op-Ed

The Auditor General of Pennsylvania penned an op-ed on Thursday arguing for the legalization of marijuana in the state, stating that it would create jobs and solve the Commonwealth's budget issues.

"It is time for Pennsylvania to regulate and tax marijuana to benefit from a booming industry expected nationally to be worth $20 billion and employ more than 280,000 people in the next decade," Auditor General Eugene DePasquale wrote in the Philly.com opinion piece.

DePasquale said that the state was approaching another budget cliff and that money continues to be wasted on interest in loans.

He added that the state's general fund will have a balance of negative $1.6 billion by the middle of the month. Without the kind of boost that marijuana would provide, that number will only grow more dire.

DePasquale's "very conservative" estimate on revenues from taxing marijuana is $200 million. State Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery), who has proposed comprehensive legislation to legalize marijuana, estimates that those revenues are more likely to be in excess of $300 million.

Both also cite the money that would be saved from not prosecuting and jailing individuals for minor drug offenses like marijuana possession.

For DePasquale, marijuana also has the potential to help combat the opioid crisis.

"With the growing, deadly opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania, the regulation and taxation of marijuana might help prevent some people from getting addicted to prescription painkillers and entering the potentially deadly spiral of opioid addiction. For these Pennsylvanians, marijuana could be a much safer way to treat severe pain."

Medical marijuana was legalized in the Commonwealth in 2016 after years in the on the floor in Harrisburg. There remain opponents to legalization within the state legislature, although the most recent legislation was passed through both houses with a clear bipartisan majority.

Eight states, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, in addition to the District of Columbia, have legalized marijuana.

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