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MEDICINAL MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGALIZED

If Pennsylvania House members had been asked to legalize marijuana for recreational use, their commitment to delay would be understandable.  Legalization in Colorado, Oregon and Washington is a work in progress, an experiment that could guide other states in the future.

But the state House and Gov.  Tom Corbett have treated the legalization of medicinal marijuana as a law enforcement matter rather than the introduction of a valuable medicine to relieve suffering.  That position contradicts the experiences of 21 other states where medicinal marijuana is legal and uncontroversial.

Republican Sen.  Mike Folmer of Lebanon County and Democratic Sen.  Daylin Leach of Montgomery County sponsored a medicinal marijuana legalization bill that passed their chamber in September, 43-7.  That's appropriate and unsurprising.

The legitimate medicinal uses of marijuana are well-settled, and senators heard entreaties for legalization from medical professionals and people suffering from an array of seizure disorders and several types of cancer and, especially, from the parents of children who suffer seizures that can be treated with cannabis.

Yet the House simply let the legalization bill wither and die after the Senate passed it, and Gov.  Tom Corbett wanted only to launch a pilot program at a few hospitals, which is unnecessary given the vast experience in other states.

Mr.  Folmer and Mr.  Leach, the sponsoring senators, plan to reintroduce the bill early in the new session, and they will have an ally this time in Gov.-elect Tom Wolf, who strongly supports legalization.

The House should move quickly, as well, to add medicinal marijuana to the arsenal of people who need effective treatment.