People who want lawmakers to legalize recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania rallied Tuesday at the State Capitol in Harrisburg.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman was among the speakers. The crowd also heard from Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-Erie), who is believed to be the first Republican lawmaker supporting a legalization bill.
Earlier, a group of people walked up State Street as part of the demonstration. Many of them were chanting in favor of legalizing homegrown marijuana.
Many marijuana activists say Pennsylvania is falling behind neighboring states that have moved to legalize a drug they argue is less harmful than many other drugs. Supporters also say legal cannabis could be a revenue driver.
Other events on marijuana legalization are also being held in Harrisburg on Tuesday, with supporters trying to convince lawmakers to take up the issue.
Fetterman has long been advocate for legalization:
I was the only candidate who said it in 2016, and I’ll keep saying it until we make it happen:
Let’s make weed legal. Let’s address the systemic racism in our nation’s drug policy and end the war on drugs.
By the way, received this e-mail today from Fetterman’s campaign:
Happy 4/20!
Today is a joyous occasion to not only celebrate weed, but to seriously commit ourselves to full marijuana legalization and ending the War on Drugs.
^^^ That’s pretty much what the vibe was like at the 2021 Pennsylvania Cannabis Festival held in Kutztown over the weekend.
Founded in Scranton in 2015, the annual festival is an *amazing* community event. Its mission is to end cannabis prohibition in Pennsylvania.
Rolling with some new friends.
We had some high times at the festival (to be clear, the last time I smoked weed in earnest was at Burning Man in 1999).
Despite taking place in one of Pennsylvania’s reddest counties, thousands of Pennsylvanians came out to celebrate. After all, legal weed is supported by nearly 70% of Americans (and it’s fully legal in 17 states + DC)!
Standing next to Cousin Lit.
I believe that weed should be legal, safe, and pure for medicinal and recreational use by adults across the country. Legal weed is good for farmers, small businesses, veterans, and people suffering from chronic pain.
Some people wore costumes. I wore my neck gaiter.
Along with legalizing weed for recreational and medicinal use, it is urgent that we expunge all marijuana records and release all those incarcerated for using the plant. I want to be very clear that marijuana prohibition in America is a grave racial injustice.
The data is stark: Black people are arrested for violating marijuana possession laws at nearly four times the rates of white people. It’s time to elect leaders who know that’s beyond unacceptable — and who have the courage to speak up and do something to right these wrongs.
Gisele and our Political Director, Celeste, came too!
As I have said, fighting for legal weed in Pennsylvania and across the country is the right choice. Most importantly, from a social justice and equality standpoint, when we legalize weed we can stop over 20,000 unjust arrests across Pennsylvania each year and work toward ending the War on Drugs.
Look, Mary, I’ve always supported legal weed. Always will. Most Senate candidates don’t make legal weed a central part of their campaign platform, but I am.
And with your support, I’ll be the LOUDEST (and tbh, probably the tallest) champion for legal weed and marijuana justice in the U.S. Senate.
