Reporters for Spotlight PA describe the push to legalize pot for recreational use as a “loser” in the 2024 budget process.

We must suggest, in that case, that Pennsylvanians as a whole are winners.

Tying legalization to the budget process constricts it to a narrow timetable. Our state budgets, for good reason, are expected to be passed by certain deadlines.

There is no good reason why such a monumental change in policy in Pennsylvania should be subject to those deadlines.

Instead, it should be an open-ended process, allowing legislators on both sides of the issue every chance to ask questions and think about more questions to ask — even if it takes months or years.

Just as importantly, we fear connecting the legalization of recreational marijuana to the budgetary process allows one aspect of the discussion to drive the discussion to the detriment of every other concern and question and apprehension.

The potential revenue from recreational pot should neither deflect from our state’s need to get excessive spending under control or overshadow other concerns about a Pennsylvania where marijuana is readily available.

In legalizing recreational marijuana, our state would need to address the impact on employers who deserve a drug-free workforce. Pennsylvania would need to address how authorities and the newly legal industry will keep marijuana out of the hands of minors and how the police and courts will handle motorists who drive under the influence of marijuana.

Again, we are skeptical that our state government can adequately address these apprehensions. But they remain just a few of the concerns our lawmakers would need to confront.

Our state deserves a process that handles these questions in a fair, deliberative manner — not rushed according to the budget calendar and for the sole, overriding purpose of the government acquiring more money.