Medical marijuana rally at PA state Capitol, Sept. 15, 2014

Medical marijuana supporters rally at the Pennsylvania state Capitol to urge lawmakers to permit the use of the drug for medical purposes, September 15, 2014. John Hagy of Camp Hill holds a Pills Kill sign to support a friend with epilepsy who would benefit from the legalization of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

(Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.)

The state House health committee has voted to move a medical marijuana legalization bill to a committee whose chairman has expressed openness to the idea.



Still, it's unclear how much the bill, SB 3, will change, and whether it will see a vote any time soon.



The bill had been in the committee of state Rep. Matt Baker, R-Tioga, who opposes medical marijuana based on his belief there's insufficient research to prove it's safe and effective. Baker had enraged medical marijuana supporters by saying he would refuse to allow a vote.



But on Friday his committee voted 25-0 to move the bill to the House rules committee headed by state Rep. Dave Reed, R-Indiana, who is the house majority leader.



Supporters of the bill, including some House members, have said it would pass by a wide, bipartisan margin if put up for a vote.



However, Reed, while expressing openness to legalizing medical marijuana, has said House members aren't entirely comfortable with SB 3.



On Monday, his spokesman, Steve Miskin, declined to name a timetable for dealing with the bill, and stressed that legislators are presently occupied by passing a budget, which entails challenging issues including public pension reform and funding schools.

He said he was unaware of any deal among House leaders to sit on the bill until fall.



However, Latrisha Bentch of Swatara Twp., said she distrusts the politics surrounding the bill that passed by a wide margin in the Senate and which has strong public support.



"It just feels like stalling tactics to me," said Bentch, whose daughter suffers from severe seizures and who Bentch believes might benefit from medical marijuana. "For people who have a sick child, it's really hard to swallow."

Last week, Bentch and other supporters were optimistic as state Rep. Nick Miccarelli, a Delaware County Republican, built strong support for a discharge petition aimed at forcing a vote on SB 3.

But that effort was preempted by the health committee vote to re-refer SB 3 to Reed's committee. The move frustrated Bentch. "We could have had a vote Saturday. We could have had our legislation passed today," she said Monday.

Miskin said Reed's goal is to come up with bill language which will received enough votes to pass the House. He said House members are unsupportive of a new state board called for in SB 3 to regulate medical marijuana, but didn't name other problems with the bill.



He also said House members have had little time to consider SB 3, which passed the Senate on May 12.

"I know a lot of people think the House should just rubber stamp the Senate's work, but it doesn't work that way," he said.

The author of SB 3, state Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County, disagreed there was insufficient time for the House to adequately consider the bill and make amendments. Pointing to public opinion polls which show near 90 percent support for medical marijuana, and Gov. Tom Wolf's willingness to sign the bill, he said the legislature missed an opportunity to show it could work together to pass something the public wants.

Folmer said he has heard there will be no action on the bill until fall.

Still, he said he was encouraged by the move to Reed's committee. "It means we're still alive. It means there's an opportunity. It means we're moving along. But we're not moving fast enough," he said.