Laws allowing the use of medical marijuana have been put in place or are being put in place across the country. Is Pennsylvania set to join those ranks? Currently, use of marijuana for certain medical reasons is allowed in a number of states including, but not limited to: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Furthermore, there are a number of states with medical marijuana legislation pending: Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
In the Pennsylvania General Assembly, there have been two bills introduced regarding medical marijuana — Senate Bill No. 1003 and House Bill No. 1653. Though the bills are, in large part, identical, there is some key additional language in the House bill that is absent from the Senate bill. As such, this article will focus on the issues addressed in that bill.
