A cannabis industry founder has published an op-ed arguing that Pennsylvania must design its adult-use marijuana law to give small businesses a fair chance to compete. The author is Gabe Perlow of Tri-Mountain Pure, writing in Marijuana Moment.
Perlow wrote that the moment is ripe because Democrats under Governor Josh Shapiro have just achieved a governing trifecta, with the Senate flipping to a Democratic majority for the first time since the early 1990s.
“There is no better time to pass adult-use cannabis legislation in Pennsylvania than right now,” Perlow wrote in Marijuana Moment.
The op-ed responds to a recent article reporting that six companies operate more than half of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana dispensaries, a concentration Perlow called a legitimate question about the industry’s future.
He argued that lawmakers concerned about retail ownership should pass a legalization bill that gives more entrepreneurs a chance to compete.
Perlow said his perspective comes from direct experience in Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program as a founder who sold a business and an entrepreneur who returned to build another company.
He helped build PurePenn, one of the first twelve grower/processor permittees in Pennsylvania, and later transitioned that business to Trulieve’s management.
He then returned to the commonwealth’s medical program with a grower-processor operation that has been running for approximately six months, with products now available in nearly all Pennsylvania dispensaries.
Perlow noted that a store operated by a national company can also be an important customer for a Pennsylvania producer, and that retail ownership and opportunity for independent brands are related but separate questions.
He acknowledged that his own successful exit gave him experience and resources many aspiring entrepreneurs lack, saying the next Pennsylvania founder should not need to have sold a cannabis company already to have a realistic chance of building one.
“Legalization alone does not guarantee a competitive market, and simply allowing existing companies to serve more customers would fall short of what Pennsylvania needs,” Perlow wrote in Marijuana Moment.
He urged lawmakers to build a framework that lets qualified existing operators launch adult-use sales while establishing clear, timely pathways for new businesses, with application requirements and fees scaled to the size and scope of the operation.
Perlow called for a practical route for smaller entrepreneurs into cultivation, manufacturing and retail, with meaningful support for applicants from communities harmed by cannabis prohibition.
He also said regulators should scrutinize conduct that improperly blocks competing products from retail shelves, so businesses win shelf space through quality, reliability and customer demand.
Perlow added that Pennsylvania must protect medical patients during the transition and pair legalization with enforceable testing, accurate labeling, age verification, responsible packaging, expungement and investment in communities affected by past enforcement.
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