- Senator Mike Folmer, R-Dauphin, and Senator Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, reintroduced on January 27 a medical cannabis bill during a press conference at the State Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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Former Governor, Tom Corbett, opposed the bill when it was last introduced at the end of the previous legislative session, but current Governor Tom Wolf has given his unconditional support for the bill. Governor Wolf said "if they support it, and it takes us farther down the road toward what we all want, which is full legalization of medical marijuana, giving doctors the ability and the right to prescribe medicine they think that patients need, I'm for it." Senators Leach and Folmer envision a new bill that would expand the list of the 10 medical conditions to give doctors more ability to prescribe medical marijuana as they see fit. Moreover, the Senators plan to expand the drug delivery methods to include smoking and vaporization as well as extracted oils, edible products, ointments and tintures. - New Senator Pat Stefano, R-Dunbar, announced his co-sponsorship of the bill, saying "while currently there is no cure for this horrible disease, studies have shown that medical cannabis can lessen the frequency and severity of the seizures," referring to such diseases as Dravet Syndrome a rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy that begins in infancy.
- Passage of the bill in the Republican controlled House is surely not a certainty as conservative opposition exists to any form of legalization of marijuana. Many legislatures, both Republican and Democrat, argue that legalization of marijuana in any form will ultimately lead to legalization of marijuana as a recreational drug. They then argue that recreational use of marijuana is a "gateway drug" that will lead to use of other illegal substances.
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