Frankel Celebrates Step Forward for Legal Weed, Calls on Senate to Move State Legislation
Rep. Dan B. Frankel December 18, 2025 | 2:12 PM
PITTSBURGH, Dec. 18 – Pennsylvania House Health Committee Chairman Rep. Dan Frankel welcomed news Thursday that the federal government will take the steps necessary to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug.
“I am thrilled that President Trump moved forward with former President Biden’s efforts to reschedule cannabis. This long-overdue shift will finally allow Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis operators to exist and grow with some of the same advantages afforded to every other industry,” said Frankel, D-Allegheny. “Patients, providers, and small businesses have been navigating an impossible legal landscape for years, and today marks real progress toward a rational, science-based federal policy.”
Frankel emphasized that the change does not lessen the need for state action.
“Federal reform does not regulate production, testing, retail sales, or public health protections. It does not create a legal marketplace. It does not address equity. It simply removes one barrier,” Frankel said. “The need for full legalization and state regulation in Pennsylvania is as urgent as ever, and we must continue moving forward with a responsible, tightly regulated system that protects consumers, communities, and public health.”
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives made history on May 7 by passing legislation to legalize recreational cannabis for the first time in the commonwealth’s history. That legislation, by Reps. Rick Krajewski and Frankel, is a comprehensive plan that centers on public health, community repair and economic opportunity.
The PA House Health Committee held six public hearings on issues related to cannabis legalization beginning in November 2023, and the effort culminated in a report, "Adult-Use Cannabis: Exploring Public Health Concerns, Market Volatility, and Solutions for PA."
The hearings allowed lawmakers to learn from the mistakes and successes of other state programs, laying the groundwork for a cannabis marketplace that would protect public health, uplift communities harmed by prohibition, provide sustainable opportunities for Pennsylvanians, and create a stable market that benefits taxpayers. Find links to prepared testimony, video and transcripts from those hearings here.
House leaders, along with Krajewski and Frankel, eagerly await the passage of a Senate adult-use cannabis bill, so they can commence negotiations on a legal marketplace for Pennsylvania.
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