By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG (CBS) — Medical marijuana legislation is advancing through the Pennsylvania legislature and the profile of the man leading the charge is not what most people would expect.

State Senator Mike Folmer, a Lebanon County Republican, is not just the sponsor of legislation to legalize medical marijuana, he is passionate about it. That passion, he says, comes from what he has learned about it.

“I’m a conservative Republican,” Folmer says. “I’m a bible-believing Christian. Alright? This is not something that somebody from my side would jump on. But as I got into it, I started to realize that ‘my goodness, here’s part of God’s creation that He has given to us.’ Now, we as human beings have two choices. We can either abuse and misuse it or we can bring it into proper stewardship and use it [for] which I believe it was originally intended for.”

Folmer now faces the task of balancing the desires of those who want to allow for wide-ranging use of medical cannabis, and crafting a bill that will get through the Senate and the more skeptical House.