Pubdate: Sun, 03 Aug 2014
Source: Pottstown Mercury (PA)
Copyright: 2014 The Mercury, a Journal Register Property
Contact:  http://www.pottstownmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2287
Page: A1

STATE SENATOR SAMPLES POT ON TAXPAYER TRIP TO COLO.

HARRISBURG (AP) - A Pennsylvania state senator admitted he used 
marijuana during a recent taxpayer-funded trip to Colorado to observe 
the state's legal marijuana industry in action.

Sen. Daylin Leach, a leading proponent of legalized marijuana in the 
Legislature, said he took two hits from a vape pen, similar to an 
e-cigarette, at his hotel. The device vaporizes a form of marijuana 
and is smokeless. Leach said it was a gift from a facility he and 
aides toured during the trip, which cost nearly $5,000.

Leach, a Democrat who represents parts of Montgomery and Delaware 
counties, said Friday that on his last night in Colorado he wanted to 
use the drug for the first time in about 25 years because people have 
told him potency is greater than it used to be.

"I did two hits, which was less than I would have done when I was in 
high school," Leach said. "I definitely felt the effects of it."

He said the legal weed caused him to giggle a bit through dinner, and 
afterward in his hotel room he did something uncharacteristic - he 
watched a romantic comedy on television.

Leach toured growing facilities, laboratories and retail 
dispensaries. He said the vape pen came in a gift bag along with a 
pair of sunglasses and two lanyards.

A bill co-sponsored by Leach that would allow medical marijuana 
passed a state Senate committee with a unanimous vote in late June.

It would permit marijuana to be grown, processed and dispensed, with 
oversight by a Board of Medical Cannabis Licensing. Patients would 
need a $100 access card and would have to establish a 
patient-physician relationship, as well as written confirmation of a 
qualifying medical condition.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom