Pennsylvania Marijuana Bill Faces Roadblock in House

The bill that would legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, sponsored by State Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery/Delaware), is facing a roadblock in the state House of Representatives.

Rep. Matt Baker (R-Bradford/Potter/Tioga) says that he won’t allow the bill, which passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the Senate, to even come up for a vote in the House.

Baker heads the health committee in the House and could potentially prevent the House from deliberating on the measure.

Leach, who cosponsored Senate Bill 3 with Senator Mike Fulmer (R-Dauphin/Lebanon/York), was one of 19 Democrats and 21 Republicans who supported the measure in the Senate, passing it by a 40-7 margin.

Leach calls passing medical marijuana “a moral issue, not a partisan issue.”

“Every day that passes without medical cannabis in Pennsylvania is another day of needless suffering,” Leach said.

Baker says that medical marijuana’s benefits have not been conclusively proven, and turns to a letter from the Pennsylvania Medical Society that cites contradictory research, including evidence that seizures in epileptic children worsened after using medical marijuana.

Baker is also working on legislation to address drug overdoses in Pennsylvania, and in statements about his work he suggests that other drugs can provide a gateway to deadly drugs like heroin.

“What is still surprising for many people to learn is that these drug overdoses are not always the result of illegal drugs or, at least, the addictions didn’t start out with illegal drugs,” Baker writes.

Baker’s critics, in turn, point to his campaign finance contributions, which include donations from pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Merck, and Rite Aid PAC, whom they say would not benefit from the legalization of a competing form of medicine.

Biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is Baker’s top campaign financier, providing over $5,000, according to VoteSmart.org.

“Pharmaceuticals and health” donated more to Baker than any other identified industry, the analysis shows, providing Baker with a total of $12,000.

Some have called for Baker to be removed from office, starting an online petition that had garnered 1,162 signatures as of Friday morning.

Gov. Tom Wolf, a supporter of the measure to legalize medical marijuana, is optimistic that the bill can be passed.

“It was passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, I think it would pass overwhelmingly in the House. I hope we can convince the right people to do the right thing,” he told WPMT.

What do you think? Should medical marijuana be legalized here in Pennsylvania? Let us know in the comments.

Read more about the marijuana bill:

Montco Senator’s Medical Marijuana Bill Passed In State Senate