Jun 9, 2023 2 min read

Fully legalizing marijuana in Pennsylvania would require a robust regulatory framework, from licensing growers and distributors to tracking and collecting taxes, preventing underage use and ensuring public safety.

Gov. Josh Shapiro supports legal adult use to the point of including that prospect in his first proposed budget. He recommends a 20% tax on wholesale prices of marijuana products. Assuming that sales would begin in January 2025, he estimated that the tax would produce $16 million in revenue in the first year and gradually rise to $188 million a year by the end of the decade.

Any regulatory regime also would have to include ensured transparency so that the relevant information could be used to guide policy. Yet, the administration remains far less than forthcoming regarding basic information about the existing medical marijuana program.

The state Department of Health has stonewalled the news organization Spotlight PA’s requests for records regarding marijuana prescriptions by specific doctors. According to the agency, releasing the data would violate privacy laws, even thought the Right to Know request did not seek any information about specific patients.

Using other public records, Spotlight PA has shown the department has cited excessive patient approval numbers for marijuana use in at least one disciplinary case against a doctor. In another case, an attorney for the Health Department argued that discipline was appropriate, saying “the total number of patients versus his time and ability to certify patients is relevant.”

The implication is that the doctor issued blanket medical certifications to anyone who sought one to acquire marijuana.

Legislators cited the public records cases in a recent legislative hearing, in which they also sought data about the state’s regulation of marijuana prescriptions.

Spotlight PA appealed the document denial to the state Office of Open Records, which ordered the Health Department to release the records. Rather than doing so, the administration appealed that decision to Commonwealth Court, which will rule on three such cases involving the marijuana records.

While advocating full marijuana legalization, the administration can’t credibly cherry-pick which information it wants to release regarding the current medical marijuana program. It should withdraw its appeal and release the records.

– Scranton Times-Tribune