Source: Alex Wong / Getty
Welcome to the other side, Pennsylvania. The state officially legalized medical (i.e. sadly not recreational) weed on Sunday, with Governor Tom Wolf describing the signed bill as “a great day for Pennsylvania and a great day for Pennsylvanians.” A group of lawmakers from both sides of the political divide ultimately came together with a bi-partisan effort aimed at putting the medical weed wheels in motion, WPVI reports.
“We stopped being liberals and started being problem solvers, and we stopped being conservatives and started being compromisers,” Sen. Daylin Leach, a Democrat, told reporters. “We stopped being politicians and started being human beings.” The Department of Health will now have the power to authorize as many as 150 medical dispensaries across the state, with the full program expected to roll out within the next 24 months. Pills, creams, and oils imbued with the good stuff will be the only kind of weed initially available for approved patients.
With lawmakers from both sides of the aisle agreeing that legalization may help slow down the state’s opioid abuse problem, Pennsylvania’s decision to join a growing number of medical (and recreational) legal states points to the quickly shifting mainstream attitude toward weed and weed-related laws. “What we are doing here today is the healer,” Sen. Mike Vereb, a Republican, told WPVI. The real “killer,” Vereb insists, is opioid addiction.
READ MORE: Complex.com
Article Courtesy of Complex
Picture Courtesy of Getty Images
