Dan Bartkowiak: Don’t let them in — Pennsylvania must not lose to the marijuana industry

Governor Josh Shapiro wants a 20 percent tax on marijuana recreational-use sales, forcing communities to welcome a flood of manufactured, high-potency THC products in policy like one being pushed by State Senators Sharif Street and Dan Laughlin. It’s the marijuana industry’s Trojan horse: false promises of “safe regulation” and tax revenue, masking a playbook straight from Big Tobacco. The result is more addiction, youth exposure, mental health crises, and public safety risks.

The good news is Gov. Shapiro is not a king, and, unlike other states, the General Assembly can keep the gates closed to the industry’s army of lobbyists and prevent Pennsylvania families from paying for the devastating consequences.

Before any vote on marijuana is cast, our General Assembly should understand that today’s marijuana is not the marijuana of decades past. Today’s manufactured version of marijuana causes harm and can lead to addiction or worse. 

Despite the industry’s claims, Pennsylvania’s current marijuana debate is not about economic opportunity. It’s also not about medical compassion. It’s about an industrialized drug that well-funded chemists and growers have bred and processed marijuana strains to contain ultra-potent THC (the psychoactive component that causes the high). These are packaged in candy-flavored products, with vapes disguised as school supplies, and edibles designed to attract children.

The meteoric rise in marijuana potency and the development of concentrates with dangerously high THC levels have made marijuana stronger, more addictive, and increasingly linked to mental health problems and impairment that impact driving, schools, and workplaces. Behind all of this, large corporations in the marijuana industry view addiction-for-profit as their next business venture, with Pennsylvania as their next target.

A government financially dependent on the sale of marijuana is one that’s incentivized to ignore these harms as if they don’t exist.

I recently asked a pro-marijuana lobbyist a simple question: Can you become addicted to marijuana? She immediately replied, “No!” That’s not just wrong — it’s reckless.

As the CDC states, yes, it is possible to become addicted to cannabis and roughly three in ten people who use it will have some form of addiction (cannabis use disorder).

But this ignorance of reality is not uncommon. “If you don’t believe marijuana has addictive qualities, then you’re not paying attention.” That’s Rep. Craig Williams, who recently spoke passionately against a bill to commercialize marijuana sales, which narrowly passed in the PA House of Representatives by a party-line vote. Rep. Williams’ younger brother died from a drug overdose, and he points to marijuana as what started his drug addiction. 

He’s right. Too many lawmakers seem unaware of the current state of marijuana — or are buying into the industry’s spin.

It’s frustrating to hear a state lawmaker like Sen. Laughlin claim his commercialization bill is “the most conservative” marijuana policy approach. If the same bill is reintroduced from last session, this bill would grow the government, have no cap on THC potency, and force local communities to allow a pot shop with no possibility of opting out. And, shockingly, Sen. Laughlin recently claimed his bill “won’t cost the state a penny.”

Really, Senator? It’s clear from states experimenting with the commercialization of industrialized marijuana that Pennsylvania would pay for a host of increased societal costs. Health associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics are opposed because of the fallout of increased youth marijuana use, law enforcement like the FOP and PA Chiefs of Police Association recognize marijuana legalization poses significant consequences to public safety, and there are dangers to workplace safety. As Pennsylvania businessman Rob Shearer says, “…labor practices, workplace litigation, employer liability…the price tag on Pennsylvania is simply too high.”

Ironically, even Senator Laughlin has admitted, “It’s not great for people to use marijuana.” So why sponsor a bill that encourages more of it? 

Jumping on Gov. Shapiro’s Big Marijuana bandwagon will transform Pennsylvania from the “Great American Getaway” to the Keystoned State, with communities forced to comply with more pot shops than Starbucks and McDonald’s combined (like Colorado), where weed is smelled everywhere (just visit NYC) and billboards and social media content pushing an in-your-face marijuana culture.

Now, I don’t believe I’m ignorant of the current marijuana landscape in Pennsylvania. We have problems with “gas station weed” and variants such as Delta 8 that are causing harm. We have a medical program that is in many ways out of control. Those issues need to be addressed. But two wrongs don’t make a right.

We can also make improvements to our criminal justice system without commercializing the sale of marijuana and its damaging effects. As former Superior Court Judge Cheryl Allen has said, “How does adding more drug locations — whether state-run or privately owned, Black-owned or white-owned — help rebuild families shattered by addiction? The color of the business owner doesn’t change the harm the product causes.”

Marijuana commercialization harms young people. One example is in Michigan, where the largest public school system in Detroit saw a surge in marijuana use after legalization, particularly due to the “proliferation and consumption of marijuana edibles and vape pens.” As their superintendent identified, “Since the legalization of marijuana, our district has observed a distressing escalation in drug-related infractions.” 

Now, one thing I agree with Sen. Laughlin on is his admission that “we de facto legalized recreational marijuana when we did the medical program.” No doctor should be rubber-stamping 11,000+ medical cards a year. Over half of all medical card issuances list anxiety as the qualifying serious medical condition, which goes against recommended guidance from health associations like the American Psychiatric Association.

But the marijuana industry isn’t satisfied with medical use. It’s why they’re paying lobbyists to roam the Capitol in Harrisburg; companies like Trulieve are spending millions to push recreational use across the country. A move to incentivize recreational use of marijuana will not fix Pennsylvania’s current landscape, but it would create more problems with the commercialization of this harmful drug.

We need to listen to families like Jennifer, whose son became addicted to marijuana, initially receiving it through our state’s medical program. She believed the system was there to help. Instead, it introduced her child to a dangerous substance and took her straight-A student and football captain to a shell of himself that’s now paranoid and barely functioning.

Starbucks-style pot shops will not help families like Jennifer’s. Pennsylvania should be a state that protects children, strengthens families, and prioritizes mental health — not one that sells out those values for a short-term tax boost.

The stakes are too high. Let’s not gamble with addiction. Let’s not trade away our communities for cash.

Our elected officials must stand firm against Big Marijuana’s Trojan horse. 

Dan Bartkowiak is the Chief Strategy Officer for Pennsylvania Family Institute.