HARRISBURG — Voters who have strong opinions about whether Pennsylvania should legalize adult-use marijuana will find a clear divide between the major gubernatorial candidates this year.
Since taking office in 2023, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has asked the General Assembly to create a recreational marijuana program run by the state Department of Agriculture in each of his yearly budget proposals. The tax revenue would help the state pay for rising healthcare and education costs.
Republican challenger Stacy Garrity, who serves as state treasurer, says she would veto any such bill that cleared the legislature.
But recreational use isn’t Pennsylvania’s only cannabis-related policy debate. The commonwealth’s decade-old medical marijuana program has faced questions about who should oversee the program and what medical conditions should qualify a patient for a card.
The state is also home to tens of thousands of people incarcerated for possession, and it has intoxicating hemp-derived products proliferating in gas stations, convenience stores, and smoke shops.
Here are Garrity’s and Shapiro’s positions on these issues:
Recreational adult-use marijuana
In the absence of federal policy changes, 24 states — including all but one of Pennsylvania's neighbors — have made it legal for people 21 and older to possess and use at least small amounts of recreational marijuana.
Statewide polling shows legalization is popular among voters. Yet proposals that have circulated the Capitol for years have not made real headway.
Last year, Pennsylvania Senate Republicans shot down House Democrats’ proposal to sell marijuana in state-owned stores, similar to ones that sell liquor. That followed years of inaction from the upper chamber on a bipartisan proposal from Sens. Sharif Street (D., Philadelphia) and Dan Laughlin (R., Erie) to tax recreational sales at 14% total and expunge the criminal records of all people convicted of nonviolent marijuana possession.
Shapiro has repeatedly proposed a total tax of 26% on recreational marijuana sales, which his administration estimates would raise about $200 million annually once fully in effect. His administration estimated that in its first year, legalization would make $729 million from taxes and one-time licensing fees.
“Governor Shapiro has been clear that as nearly every one of our neighboring states has already legalized marijuana, we cannot afford to keep losing out on this revenue — and we need comprehensive cannabis reform to make Pennsylvania more competitive and more just,” Sam Reposa, a spokesperson for Shapiro’s campaign, said in an email.
His proposal would allocate $25 million in sales revenue to help small businesses and those owned by people of color looking to enter the new marketplace under the state Department of Agriculture.
Some details are missing from Shapiro’s proposal, and neither his campaign nor his administration responded to questions about them. Those include what type of sale model he would support and whether users would be permitted to grow cannabis plants at home.
While Garrity told Spotlight PA in an email that marijuana is “an addictive substance with negative public health and safety side-effects” that should not be legalized for recreational use, she said the law should not treat it like heroin.
“Marijuana is a psychoactive drug, and it has serious respiratory and cognitive impacts on users,” Garrity said. “This is particularly true for younger marijuana users, whose brains are not fully developed and are more susceptible to long-term learning and impulse control problems.”
She also called Shapiro’s pitch to tax sales revenue a “desperate” attempt to fill the state’s budget deficit.
Medical marijuana
In 2016, state lawmakers agreed to adopt a medical marijuana program. There are more than 430,000 active patients, and the program has seen about $9.1 billion in sales since products became available in 2018, according to the Department of Health, which runs the program.
Pennsylvania permits 25 growers and processors to operate. The cost of opening is about $210,000 in fees and requires proof of $2 million in capital. There were initially 50 total dispensaries statewide, but that number has since risen to nearly 200.
Garrity told Spotlight PA in an email that she had concerns regarding “regulatory inconsistencies and a lack of transparency from the Pennsylvania Department of Health,” though she did not elaborate on what changes she would implement.
“Under my administration, we will ensure that medical marijuana is properly administered and regulated so it is not abused for non-medical purposes and the distribution system is fair and balanced,” Garrity said.
Spotlight PA investigations uncovered that a small number of doctors disproportionately approved many medical marijuana cards for patients in Pennsylvania — one case highlighted during state Senate budget hearings in 2024 found a single doctor had approved at least 11,000 certifications in one year.
The Department of Health also rarely prevented doctors who had been previously disciplined from joining the program, Spotlight PA found.
In 2023, Shapiro signed an expansion of the medical marijuana program into law, allowing eligible grower-processor permittees that are independently run — i.e. not owned by multistate companies — to apply to run up to three dispensary locations. It also allowed independent dispensaries to apply to grow and process marijuana.
Another bill introduced by Laughlin would have transferred oversight of the medical marijuana program from the Department of Health to a newly created Cannabis Control Board. It failed in a state Senate floor vote after multiple Democrats who supported the proposal turned against it. Laughlin was quick to blame Shapiro’s opposition for influencing the Democrats’ change of opinions.
Rosie Lapowsky, a spokesperson for the Shapiro administration, said in a statement that Laughlin’s bill “does not advance” its stated goals, including to “protect patient access to the current Medical Marijuana Program.”
Restorative justice
Current state law classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, as it does heroin, psilocybin, and ecstasy. Without a medical card, possessing 30 grams or less — which is referred to as a small amount — is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in prison and a $500 fine. Any more could amount to 1 year in prison and a fine of $5,000.
Shapiro, previously Pennsylvania’s attorney general, has repeatedly called on lawmakers to expunge nonviolent offenders' records if they were convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana. Mentioning that proposal drew a standing ovation from most Democrats during his budget address last year.
This year, Shapiro’s budget proposal would allocate $10 million of revenue generated through taxing marijuana sales toward restorative justice efforts.
Garrity did not respond to a question sent via email regarding her thoughts on expunging records for nonviolent marijuana possession.
According to Pennsylvania State Police data, nearly 10,000 people were arrested by their local police departments in 2025 for possession of marijuana. That statistic is despite Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and some other municipalities having decriminalized possession of 30 grams or less within their respective ordinances.
Researchers at Cornell University and other institutions found earlier this year that nationwide, Black people were far more likely to be arrested for cannabis-related offenses.
Hemp products
Products that derive their high-inducing cannabinoids from hemp — including edibles, seltzers, and smokeables — have spread across the country in states where recreational marijuana remains illegal. Pennsylvania is no different.
Both hemp and marijuana come from the same plant and can produce the same intoxicating effects, usually through different types of THC. Under the federal 2018 Farm Bill, a product is considered hemp if the plant it comes from contains no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight at the time it’s harvested. If it exceeds that limit, it is legally classified as marijuana and cannot be sold for recreational purposes.
Law enforcement officials have warned that bad actors selling these hemp products have targeted children, and do not regulate themselves to ensure a safe product.
Pushback from state lawmakers, advocates, and law enforcement officials arguing hemp products exist in a gray market drove Congress last year to close the perceived loophole beginning Nov. 12 of this year.
Asked how the Shapiro administration would enforce that new policy, Lapowsky said current law prevents the sale of food and beverages containing “any level” of THC.
“No new hemp or food safety regulations are in progress at the Department of Agriculture regarding these products,” she added.
Garrity did not respond to questions about hemp policy.
Hemp business owners and advocates warn that allowing the new federal ban would force some legitimate businesses to close their doors. There are roughly 115 permitted hemp growers and 32 permitted processors in Pennsylvania, according to the Department of Agriculture — concentrated in the eastern half of the state.
Earlier this month, U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told federal lawmakers they should amend their impending regulations of hemp to “ensure the fair treatment of hemp products” or “at minimum” delay the implementation of the new regulatory framework.