Pennsylvania to vote on mmj bill in spring 2010

(December 2, 2009)

Patrick Nightingale, a Pittsburgh criminal defense attorney and Executive Director of Pittsburgh NORML and Charles Rocha are on their way back to the burg after an important day spent testifying in Harrisburg before the Pennsylvania Health and Human Services Committee.

Nightingale testified about the serious criminal sanctions facing marijuana users who naively believe that it is better to grow marijuana for their own consumption than to enter into drug transactions with drug dealers.

Prior to this afternoonâ??s hearing, Pennsylvanians were unsure how the bill would be received. â??There are definitely going to be more hearings,â? said Patrick.â?

That would have been almost too much to hope for a couple months ago. PA HB 1393 was introduced by Senator Mark Cohen of Philadelphia in April and referred to the Pennsylvania Committee of Health and Human Services in April. The hearings were expected in September but due to the budget crisis were postponed for what seemed like forever.

"It was a great hearing," said Rep. Mark Cohen who sponsored the bill. We moved the bill forward dramatically. There was a lot of thoughtful testimony."

Tim Seip, Secretary of Health and Human Services said, "There was a lot of passion and emotion in the room. Many of the committee members have strong feelings. Seip, who supports the bill, hopes the next round of hearings will take place in January or February the vote this spring.

Governor Rendell has stated that he will sign a "well-crafted" bill

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/...r=1393&pn=1714 <-- The bill.