Pennsylvania Joins the Weed Revolution by Officially Legalizing Medical Marijuana

Welcome to the winning team, Pennsylvania.

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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, WPVIreports.

"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.

As previously reported, the next big play for the nation's slow embrace of weed could come in the form of a game-changing reclassification from the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA, as explained in a 25-page memo to legislators, will reveal their decision on possibly bumping weed down from its ludicrous Schedule I status as soon as July. That wise rescheduling, as researcher John Hudak tells the Washington Post, will finally make medical research regarding weed a standard practice. "People just aren't applying because of all the headaches involved," Hudak said earlier this month. "It's a huge disincentive for the academic community."

Happy early 4/20, Pennsylvania. You've earned it.

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