Lancaster may become the first municipality in the region to support legalizing medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.

On Tuesday, Lancaster City Council members debated a proposed resolution calling for decriminalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes.

The non-binding resolution comes as bills are pending in the state legislature.

A vote could come at council’s next regular meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Southern Market Center, 100 S. Queen Street.

City Councilman Tim Roschel said he agreed to bring the resolution to council for consideration because of the experience of a friend in Arizona who had cancer.

The friend’s husband bought her marijuana with a doctors prescription to relieve pain.

Roschel said he would not have wanted her to be called a criminal.

Similarly, Council member Pete Soto recalled both his parents dying of cancer. He wished medical marijuana had been available to relieve his mother’s suffering after chemotherapy.

“The remedy was worse than the disease,” Soto said.

Marijuana, or cannabis, has been used as a folk remedy for at least 3,000 years, according to the National Institutes of Health.

According to the Mayo Clinic Health Library and other websites, benefits of medical marijuana include pain relief, preventing nausea caused by chemotherapy, helping HIV patients regain their appetite, reducing the effects of glaucoma and alleviating tremors.

Former Mountville Mayor Connie Guy, addressing council members Tuesday, said marijuana can be used for treating rheumatoid arthritis, seizures and the fibromyalgia, from which she suffers.

“We’re not stoner pot-heads,” said Guy. “We’re mothers and fathers and children ... and we suffer.”

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The resolution is in support of Senate Bill 1182 and House bill 2182. A council position would come shortly before the Senate is expected to vote on its bill, said supporter Les Stark.

“We don’t think Lancaster can change a law before the state does, but it can have some influence,” Stark said of the resolution.

The resolution was drafted by members of the Lancaster chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

A provision in the draft also called for decriminalizing the possession of a small amount of marijuana.

It references Philadelphia, which has treated possession of less than one ounce of marijuana as a summary offense since 2010.

Philadelphia City Council has also passed a provision which lessens the fine for possession to $25.

Lancaster City Council member James Reichenbach agreed.

“I think alcohol is significantly worse than marijuana. I can’t fathom why people can go to a bar and get drunk but go to jail for having a joint,” he said.

Yet, council members weighed whether to limit their resolution strictly to the medical marijuana issue before state legislators.

“I feel the same as everyone else,” Council President John Graupera said of possession of small amounts. “But, it’s baby steps,” he said.

Roschel said he would contact absent council members Louise Williams and Barbara Wilson before deciding whether to include the possession provision in the resolution.

He is hoping for a unified voice from the seven-member body.