Pubdate: Fri, 15 Apr 2016
Source: Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA)
Copyright: 2016 The Standard-Speaker
Contact:  http://www.standardspeaker.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1085

MARIJUANA BILL: COOPERATION CAN HAPPEN

Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf have helped to ease some 
medical patients' suffering by legalizing the use of prescribed 
medical marijuana. Now, their task is to see if the same rare 
bipartisan cooperation that led to the new law can ease the 
commonwealth's pain from polarized, unproductive governance.

The bill, which also promotes further research into the medicinal 
value of marijuana, is a healthy departure from the political 
paralysis that has produced such debacles as the longest budget 
impasse in Pennsylvania history.

Ultimately, the bill became law because the governor and enough 
lawmakers focused on Pennsylvanians' needs rather than on politics alone.

The same approach by Wolf and the Legislature, rather than digging in 
their heels on ideological grounds, might produce similar results on 
other important but stalled initiatives.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom