Cheap Flights, Legal Cannabis & What PA Can Learn From Ohio

It’s the Friday news roundup! Earlier this week, voters in Ohio codified access to abortion and recreational cannabis, and we wondered whether Pennsylvania could do the same. The answer is complicated. We’ve got an update on where the commonwealth is on the road to recreational cannabis legalization, plus a fun little airport update — Pittsburghers will soon be able to get flights to Iceland without a layover.

A special thanks to City Cast’s interim executive producer Marylee Williams — her first time on mic with us! — and Spotlight PA reporter Ed Mahon for sharing his cannabis reporting.

We love to cite our sources!

• From the Inky, a look at how Ohio voters amended their state constitution
• The PA House recently considered cannabis again in a public hearing
• Ohio has more citizen-led direct democracy options
• PublicSource did a great explainer on constitutional amendments in PA
• Check out Ed’s previous work on PA’s efforts to raise the minimum wage 
• Prospects of legalization in PA have picked up—but there’s still an open question about how the GOP-controlled Senate might approach reform if the opposite chamber delivered it a bill
• PA & West Virginia are the only states among our close neighbors to have not legalized now
• Starting in May 2024, Iceland Air is launching nonstop service to Reykjavík, Iceland.

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