March 18, 2025

HB 33, led by Representative Dan Frankel of Alleghany County, recently passed in the house by a vote of 194-8. The bill would give the Bureau of Medical Marijuana added oversight powers “through audit testing, quality assurance testing, data transparency, and inspections.”

The impetus for the bill stems from health committee hearings where experts testified on inaccurate product potency labeling and contamination from mold, pesticides, and heavy metals in other states that have legalized cannabis for either medical or adult-use.

In a press release from March 17^th, 2025, representative Dan Frankel said, “this legislation will help ensure that testing labs remain independent, transparent and accountable, so that we can prevent the types of issues that have undermined patient trust in other states.”

HB 33 currently sits in the Pennsylvania Senate’s Law and Justice committee where it will need approval before being brought to the Pennsylvania Senate for a full vote before being sent to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.

It is worth noting that a similar bill, HB 2208, was passed in the house by a similar margin in 2024 and did not make it out of the Pennsylvania Senate’s Law and Justice committee.