Pennsylvania’s governor is urging the state’s legislature to legalize recreational marijuana and pass a six-month reduction or cancellation of the state’s alcohol tax on the hospitality industry. Pennsylvania would join 11 other states and Washington, D.C., in fully legalizing marijuana, which can be lucrative for states.

“It’s almost, from a legislative and a state government perspective, a no brainer, because it’s a new source of revenue that you don’t have at a time where you need it desperately,” McDermott Will & Emery partner Alva C. Mather said in a recent Brewbound article. “And there’s lots of precedent for how to make it work in many other states, so the tide has turned quite a bit in the last several years where I think it’s not as taboo as it used to be.”

“States are in a very difficult situation in light of the pandemic, in terms of how they’re going to be able to generate more revenue and more job opportunities,” Mather said. “This is an entirely new industry that brings both to the table.”

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