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Bammy, chillums, funk or cheeba. No matter what you call marijuana, a Montgomery County state lawmaker wants it to be legal in Pennsylvania.
Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, said he's introducing a bill that would legalize pot for all purposes. If approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Tom Corbett – a possibility that seems as hazy as the smoke from a well-lit joint – Leach said you'd have to be at least 21 to toke up.
"Medicinal, recreational, whatever you want to use it for," the Democrat said.
If his bill is signed into law, Pennsylvania would follow Washington and Colorado as the states that have legalized the recreational use of the controversial drug. Eighteen other states allow the use of marijuana for medical treatments, including New Jersey. Federal law still considers pot smoking an illegal activity.
Leach said it would be illegal to drive a vehicle while under the influence of pot, if his bill becomes law.
Pennsylvanians would also be barred from smoking pot in public.
If this sounds similar to the way Pennsylvania deals with alcohol, Leach confirmed that and said people would have to buy marijuana in a state store. "We already have an infrastructure of facilities that are around the state that are used to checking ID, that are used to dealing with intoxicants, that are used to collecting taxes," Leach said.
Washington's liquor control board will oversee marijuana sales when the stuff hits the shelves in December.
And, just as people are allowed to brew beer at home, pot smokers would also be allowed to grow up to six cannabis plants, with only three of them allowed to flower at one time. You could also share your home-grown pot with others, as long as they're at least 21 years old.
Leach said the state's prohibition against marijuana is a "cruel, irrational policy" that improperly treats its users as criminals. "These are people who've done no harm to any other person. They've done no harm to property. They've breached the peace in no way," he said.
Arguing his case for the legalization of pot, the senator said marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. A psychiatrist from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey agreed.
"In several respects, even sugar poses more of a threat to our nation's public health than marijuana," said Dr. David Nathan, a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
"Alcohol causes severe impairment of judgment, which results in violence, drunk driving, risky sexual behavior and the use of harder drugs. Pot may cause harm, but the harm it causes is far less than that of alcohol," Nathan said Monday afternoon during a press conference in the state's Capitol.
Besides, said Leach, a person cannot kill himself by smoking too much pot.
"You can sit down and drink 10, 20 shots and you can overdose and you can die," Leach said.
Nathan did say the chronic use of cannabis can reduce motivation and result in poor grades in school if a user starts smoking as an adolescent. "But these dangers pale in comparison to the perils of alcohol, which is associated with pancreatitis, gastritis, cirrhosis, permanent dementia and physiological dependence," Nathan said.
The White House said the downward trend of marijuana use among 12- to 17-year-olds has ended and more than 370,000 people go to the emergency room "with a primary marijuana problem" every year.
The Obama administration says marijuana use is associated with mental illness, distorted perceptions, depression, suicidal thoughts and schizophrenia. It also says pot smoke has 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogens than tobacco smoke.
In a state that needs new sources of revenue, Leach said legalized marijuana could generate "hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars."
He also said it would save the state millions of dollars in costs associated with the arrest and prosecution of pot smokers. In 2006, he said, nearly 25,000 pot-related arrests were made in Pennsylvania. He said the price tag for that effort was $325 million, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Opponents of legalizing marijuana, like the president, say the social costs would outweigh new tax revenue gains.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: phillyburbs.com
Author: Mark Shade
Contact: feedback@phillyburbs.com
Website: Bill to legalize pot arrives in Harrisburg - phillyburbs.com: The Intelligencer: daylin leach, pennsylvania, cannabis smoking, medicine, pharmacology
Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, said he's introducing a bill that would legalize pot for all purposes. If approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Tom Corbett – a possibility that seems as hazy as the smoke from a well-lit joint – Leach said you'd have to be at least 21 to toke up.
"Medicinal, recreational, whatever you want to use it for," the Democrat said.
If his bill is signed into law, Pennsylvania would follow Washington and Colorado as the states that have legalized the recreational use of the controversial drug. Eighteen other states allow the use of marijuana for medical treatments, including New Jersey. Federal law still considers pot smoking an illegal activity.
Leach said it would be illegal to drive a vehicle while under the influence of pot, if his bill becomes law.
Pennsylvanians would also be barred from smoking pot in public.
If this sounds similar to the way Pennsylvania deals with alcohol, Leach confirmed that and said people would have to buy marijuana in a state store. "We already have an infrastructure of facilities that are around the state that are used to checking ID, that are used to dealing with intoxicants, that are used to collecting taxes," Leach said.
Washington's liquor control board will oversee marijuana sales when the stuff hits the shelves in December.
And, just as people are allowed to brew beer at home, pot smokers would also be allowed to grow up to six cannabis plants, with only three of them allowed to flower at one time. You could also share your home-grown pot with others, as long as they're at least 21 years old.
Leach said the state's prohibition against marijuana is a "cruel, irrational policy" that improperly treats its users as criminals. "These are people who've done no harm to any other person. They've done no harm to property. They've breached the peace in no way," he said.
Arguing his case for the legalization of pot, the senator said marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. A psychiatrist from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey agreed.
"In several respects, even sugar poses more of a threat to our nation's public health than marijuana," said Dr. David Nathan, a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
"Alcohol causes severe impairment of judgment, which results in violence, drunk driving, risky sexual behavior and the use of harder drugs. Pot may cause harm, but the harm it causes is far less than that of alcohol," Nathan said Monday afternoon during a press conference in the state's Capitol.
Besides, said Leach, a person cannot kill himself by smoking too much pot.
"You can sit down and drink 10, 20 shots and you can overdose and you can die," Leach said.
Nathan did say the chronic use of cannabis can reduce motivation and result in poor grades in school if a user starts smoking as an adolescent. "But these dangers pale in comparison to the perils of alcohol, which is associated with pancreatitis, gastritis, cirrhosis, permanent dementia and physiological dependence," Nathan said.
The White House said the downward trend of marijuana use among 12- to 17-year-olds has ended and more than 370,000 people go to the emergency room "with a primary marijuana problem" every year.
The Obama administration says marijuana use is associated with mental illness, distorted perceptions, depression, suicidal thoughts and schizophrenia. It also says pot smoke has 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogens than tobacco smoke.
In a state that needs new sources of revenue, Leach said legalized marijuana could generate "hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars."
He also said it would save the state millions of dollars in costs associated with the arrest and prosecution of pot smokers. In 2006, he said, nearly 25,000 pot-related arrests were made in Pennsylvania. He said the price tag for that effort was $325 million, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Opponents of legalizing marijuana, like the president, say the social costs would outweigh new tax revenue gains.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: phillyburbs.com
Author: Mark Shade
Contact: feedback@phillyburbs.com
Website: Bill to legalize pot arrives in Harrisburg - phillyburbs.com: The Intelligencer: daylin leach, pennsylvania, cannabis smoking, medicine, pharmacology
