The debate over legalizing recreational marijuana will take center stage in Pennsylvania Wednesday as Lt. Governor John Fetterman is scheduled to release his report from his 67-county "marijuana listening tour" across the state.
Before the announcement this afternoon, Lt. Governor John Fetterman sat one-on-one with FOX43's Jamie Bittner to discuss the report last week.
Stay tuned to FOX43 for the latest developments when the report is officially released Wednesday afternoon.
"When I took on the listening tour, I promised the people of Pennsylvania two things. One, was I would go to all 67 counties and I did taht. And, I was going to, we were going to create a report that I submitted to the Governor. So, I've done that. The path forward, if there is a path will be determined and decided by the Governor," said Lt. Governor John Fetterman.
Read more of his interview with FOX 43:
Do you believe Pennsylvania is the next state to legalize recreational marijuana?
What I can say is, well two things. One, the Governor is going to be the one to decide that path if there is one. And two, Pennsylvania will be awash in legal marijuana sooner or later regardless because New York just decriminalized it. New Jersey is right on the cusp. Illinois just legalized it. Maryland. So, we have other states that are surrounding us where it's going to be legal in short order. So, it's something that is coming whether or not it's in our state is something that's going to be up to, ultimately, the Governor and the legislature.
The report that you issued to the Governor, was it mostly in support of legalizing medical marijuana?
No, it didn't have an opinion. It was just simply reporting the facts and what I encountered across all 67 counties. So, the report demonstrates taht the majority of people in Pennsylvania support it. But, it wasn't a pro cannabis report. It simply was a reflection of the information we gathered across all 67 counties.
Do you think the Governor is open to recreational marijuana?
Of course the Governor is open to it. Otherwise, if he wasn't he wouldn't have asked me to do this tour. But, the Governor hasn't made up his mind and the Governor is a fair, open-minded person who wanted to know where Pennsylvania is at. So, that's why we did this tour and that's why I know he's going to ultimately describe what he sees as the path and the way forward.