All of them were very enjoyable, I know. But we’ll have to wait and see.
By Peter Hall, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
On Wednesday, a heavyweight from the legal marijuana industry met with Pennsylvania lawmakers at the Capitol.
Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champion who was known as the “baddest man in the world” during the peak of his career, entered the cannabis market when he launched the Tyson 2.0 brand in 2021.
Tyson said that his aim was to increase the legitimacy and accountability of cannabis businesses. In more than half the states, adult recreational marijuana use is allowed. In Pennsylvania, marijuana is only legal for medical purposes. It remains illegal under federal law which doesn’t recognize medical uses.
“I would like Tyson 2.0 be the most successful company in the world.” Tyson stated that he was here to discuss the safety of cannabis. He added that there is a lot bad cannabis on the market and he didn’t want people getting sick from it.
Tyson’s Brand partners with Ric Flaair of the professional wrestling world and Evander Holyfield who was Tyson’s heavyweight opponent in 1997, but whose ear Tyson bit in a infamous bout.
Tyson’s early nickname, “Iron Mike”, also had personal struggles with addiction. He served three years in prison after being found guilty of rape. Tyson, when asked what cannabis had done for him, said that it helped him stop using cocaine and alcohol.
“I see me like I’m a cannabis product,” he stated. I was addicted to everything. “I was taking everything, including acid, cocaine and alcohol.”
The legalization of recreational marijuana has long been on the wish list for Gov. Josh Shapiro, (D), has had legalization of recreational weed on his list ever since he began serving in 2023.
Shapiro, in his budget speech for this year, urged legislators to again pass legislation which would legalize recreational cannabis and tax it. Shapiro said Pennsylvanians seeking edibles, vapes and buds can cross into any of four states that border the state to get them without prescriptions.
Shapiro stated that Pennsylvania’s budget could have been balanced with the money Pennsylvania was losing. According to his office, legal recreational marijuana could bring in more than $500,000,000 in tax revenue within the first year.
Shapiro’s spokesperson said that Shapiro met with Tyson. However, they did not give any specifics about the conversation. Tyson met also with Senate Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland), according to her spokesperson. She declined to give any details.
Tyson added that he would be willing to “take the matter “to the ballot box.”
In reality, legalizing recreational cannabis is the province of state legislators, and not the voters. The General Assembly considered this issue at least three times in the past year. One of the proposals was to give the Liquor Control Board the responsibility for selling cannabis.
House Bill 1200, which was introduced in January of this year by the Senate Law and Justice Committee, failed to pass. Last week, however, Sen. Dan Laughlin’s (R-Erie), the chairperson of this committee, passed legislation that established a Cannabis Control Board in Pennsylvania.
Laughlin said that the Control Board would not have the responsibility of regulating marijuana for recreational use. He opposed the proposal to establish state stores because they would eliminate small businesses.
“This bill is not about legalizing adult-use cannabis—it’s about cleaning up the system we already have in place, giving our commonwealth the structure and expertise to manage what’s already occurring within our borders,” Laughlin said in a statement.
This bill includes language that creates uniform safety standards for hemp products which are not tested and may be harmful, but have been widely available ever since the federal farm bill of 2018 was passed. The law allowed the cultivation and use of industrial hemp.
Hemp can produce chemicals similar to THC – the active ingredient in cannabis – and other compounds. The products are sold at gas stations, vape shops and other retail outlets across the Commonwealth under the names Delta 8 or THC without any regulation.
Tyson also sells Delta 8 alongside cannabis recreational products. Ryan Burke, Tyson’s business partner said their company’s products have shown that such products are not only safe but can also be sold in a responsible manner.
“When states don’t have recreational cannabis policy in place, a lot of those consumers go and … buy those products that, again, fall into that loophole industry,” Burke said, noting that the lack of testing and age controls on who can buy them has given the hemp industry a bad reputation.
Burke added that the farm bill as well as hemp in its entirety should be taken into consideration when it is time for further regulation at both a federal and state level.
First published in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Image element courtesy of Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com.