Pennsylvania’s chances for legalizing adult-use cannabis remain a long shot while Republicans maintain control of the state’s Senate – but not an impossibility.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has called for adult-use legalization in each of his budget proposals; the Democratic-controlled House passed an adult-use legalization bill in May 2025; and adult-use legislation remains active in the GOP-controlled Senate this session.
But those reform possibilities have come to no avail, as Senate Republicans have accused Shapiro and House Democrats of failing to work across the aisle on reform while, at the same time, refusing to act on legislation in their own chamber.
In the most recent implication for cannabis reform, Shapiro signed a $50.8 billion state budget on July 12 that excluded his latest legalization proposal.
Monica McCafferty, spokeswoman for the cannabis advocacy coalition ResponsiblePA, said the state budget omission is the latest example of elected officials ignoring what the commonwealth’s voters overwhelmingly support.
“If this feels like déjà vu, that’s because it is,” she said. “We’re saying almost the exact same thing we said this time last year. Pennsylvanians want this. Lawmakers know they want this. And somehow, legalization keeps getting left out of the budget agreement.”
McCafferty pointed to a survey that Susquehanna Polling & Research conducted in March 2026, which found that 69% of likely voters in Pennsylvania support the regulation and taxation of cannabis for adults 21 and older, including 67% of Republicans. The Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition (PCC) commissioned the survey.
That poll somewhat deviated from a February 2026 survey conducted by Quinnipiac University pollsters, which found that while 56% of Pennsylvania voters support adult-use legalization, Republican voters were twice as likely to oppose (64%) as to support (32%) the reform policy.
PCC Executive Director Meredith Buettner Schneider also mentioned public support for reform.
"We’re disappointed to once again see a Pennsylvania budget move forward without progress on establishing a regulated adult-use cannabis market even as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have signaled a willingness to take action and poll after poll shows a majority of Pennsylvanians support legalization,” she said. “Every year the commonwealth delays action, consumers continue to rely on the illicit market while neighboring states capture jobs, investment and tax revenue that could be benefiting Pennsylvania communities.”
Buettner Schneider said PCC remains committed to working with lawmakers to enact reform through the regular legislative process to help ensure that a future adult-use program in the commonwealth reflects public opinion, prioritizes public health and safety, protects children, and delivers economic benefits.
While Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, sponsors a bipartisan adult-use legalization bill with Sen. Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, in the upper chamber, Laughlin has declined to call his legislation for a vote in the Senate Law and Justice Committee that he chairs, maintaining that he hasn’t gathered enough support from his fellow Republicans in that body for advancement.
Instead, Laughlin urged the Democratic-controlled House to introduce a companion bill and pass it first through the lower chamber before he brings it to his Republican colleagues in his committee – not a typical ask in a divided Legislature.
“There’s people that are willing to vote for this if they know it’s going to make it to the governor’s desk,” Laughlin said in April. “They don’t want to put up a vote that might harm them, politically harm them, if it’s for nothing.”
While Laughlin has essentially blocked a committee vote on his own bill for more than a year, his co-sponsor introduced a resolution on June 29 to discharge the legislation from the committee in an attempt to bring a vote straight to the Senate floor instead.
“The people of Pennsylvania deserve a vote on adult-use cannabis,” Street said on June 29, when he offered the discharge resolution. “Not next year; not after another study; not after another election. They deserve a vote now.”
Street said when he first introduced adult-use legislation a decade ago, only he and one other Senator openly supported loosening the state’s cannabis policies. Today, he said, all 23 Senate Democrats support adult-use legalization and joined him in sponsoring the discharge resolution.
“We believe this issue has been debated long enough; it is time for the Senate to do its job and allow the people’s elected representatives to vote. And this is not simply a Democratic proposal,” Street said. “We have worked together because we recognize this issue transcends party labels and deserves a serious debate on its merit. This is not a fringe idea anymore. … This is no longer a Democratic issue or Republican issue. It is a Pennsylvania issue.”
Republicans hold a 27-23 majority in the commonwealth’s Senate, but Laughlin hasn’t recruited any other members of his caucus to co-sponsor the legalization bill.
Street pointed out that neighboring states New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware have all legalized adult-use cannabis.
“The question is no longer whether Pennsylvania will eventually regulate adult-use cannabis,” he said. “The question is whether we will lead or whether we will continue to fall further behind.”
While Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, has said that adult-use reform represents a nonstarter in budget negotiations over the years, it’s unclear whether Senate leadership will take Street up on the discharge offer.
Street reminded his colleagues on the other side of the aisle that adult-use cannabis legalization under the bill he co-sponsors with Laughlin would generate roughly $300 million in recurring revenue that could help strengthen public schools, mass transit and community development while reducing structural deficits.
Likewise, Shapiro has continued to advocate for adult-use legalization and the economic benefits it could provide Pennsylvanians since he took the governorship in 2023. Despite losing out on this proposal for another cycle, the governor touted the commonwealth’s “strong fiscal position” after he signed the budget.
“In a divided Legislature, we’ve proven time and again that Democrats and Republicans can come together to get stuff done for the good people of Pennsylvania – cutting taxes, investing in education and workforce development, and keeping the economy growing,” he said.
Street is now asking that the divided Legislature put their differences aside and work toward a meaningful conversation on his and Laughlin’s standalone legislation.
He acknowledged that the discharge resolution in no way compels the Law and Justice Committee to report the bill to the Senate floor.
“I understand that it may not force a vote, but it does force a conversation,” Street said. “It asks a simple question. If a bipartisan bill has the support of every member of the Senate Democratic Caucus, was introduced with a Republican prime sponsor, has the support of the governor, has the support of a majority of Pennsylvanians, and now has demonstrated bipartisan momentum in this chamber, why shouldn’t it at least receive an up or down vote?”
The Senate should not fear debate or democracy, he said.
