By FORD TURNER

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HARRISBURG (TNS) — The state House late Wednesday afternoon gave final approval to a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania following more than two hours of debate that showed the deep party divide on the issue, and less than three days after the 173-page bill was first unveiled.

All Democrats who spoke favored the bill, and all Republicans who spoke were against it. Republicans accused Democrats of ramming the bill through in a way that left far too little time to consider its nuances or even fully read it. The approval vote was a party- line 102-101.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has called for legalization, and his proposed 2025-26 budget contains $500 million-plus in anticipated revenue from it. But the bill faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled state Senate.

Democrats said recreational marijuana sales to Pennsylvanians already are happening, in the illicit market or in nearby states where it is legal. They praised the bill’s use of the Liquor Control Board as the oversight agency, safeguards they said it contains for children, and the generation of revenue that now is going to other states.

Republicans called the bill unconstitutional, slammed its legalization of a substance that remains illegal at the federal level, and relentlessly attacked its potential for degrading public health and safety.

“Pennsylvanians want legal cannabis,” Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, said. “Poll after poll shows it.”

Two Republicans, Reps. Craig Williams of Delaware County and Rep. Jim Struzzi of Indiana County, told of losing brothers to addiction that started with marijuana use. Mr. Williams — his voice cracking with emotion — said, “If you believe marijuana doesn’t have addictive qualities, you are not paying attention.”

The bill would create a system with LCB oversight, but sales would not occur in the existing LCB-run liquor stores. They would happen in new stores to be leased or built in places chosen by the agency.

The prime sponsor, Rep. Rick Krajewski, D-Philadelphia, said a state-run system would let Pennsylvania avoid pitfalls experienced by other states with systems that are less centralized. He said massive corporations dominate the market in those states, and, “We risk turning Pennsylvania into the new playground for corporate cannabis.”

The bill has a section that vacates convictions and sentences, and expunges records for convictions, where the controlled substance was marijuana and there was not a minimum sentence or sentence enhancement.

That section, Republican Rep. Timothy Bonner of Mercer County said, is one of several that makes the bill unconstitutional.

Mr. Bonner said the state constitution doesn’t let judges legislate, and it doesn’t let lawmakers wander into judicial matters. “This bill was not properly vetted,” Mr. Bonner said. “To ignore the constitution is to ignore the oath each one of us took.”

Republican Rep. Charity Krupa of Fayette County said statistics showed one in six people who start marijuana use as a teenager become addicted and that in states where recreational marijuana has been legalized for adults, use by high school students has increased.

Allegheny County Democratic Rep. Arvind Venkat, a physician, said statistics were cited in the debate without context. “There is no evidence that underage individuals are purposefully taking up marijuana” in states where adult use has been legalized, he said.

He praised the bill for having rigorous standards, supporting public health, and properly regulating the product.

Republican Rep. Eric Nelson of Westmoreland County said it appeared clear the main impetus behind the bill was a need for more state revenue. He predicted more accidents and more fatalities in an environment where law enforcement lacks sufficient tools to detect THC — the main psychoactive compound in marijuana — and said “we can’t afford to sell our souls for more money.”