S.54’s many critics say black youths suffer adversely from substance abuse. Compared to whites they perform poorly in schools. Black unemployment is higher than the national average. Marijuana abuse is positively linked to all three of these adverse outcomes.
The Vermont Department of Health and the Agency of Education have enacted strict new rules for children waiting for and riding the bus to school. Officials also recommend parents give their kids a ride, or have them walk or bike to school.
Advocates for social justice and organic farming oppose S.54, the retail sales, taxation and regulation of marijuana. Barring major changes in the upcoming special session, it should be scrapped for the year, they say.
“Taxing by price may not be stable, taxing by weight could encourage use of high potency products, and taxing by potency could complicate tax collection and add significant costs to both tax collectors and industry,” Boesen said.
Vermonters asking the Legislature “buddy, can you spare a dime?” for basic education, housing, food and employment assistance may wonder at a Legislature willing to front almost $1 million to create a legal industry surrounded by so much controversy and so many question marks.
Whether you’re for or against legalizing and the recreational use and sale of pot, injecting the issue of race and sex into this will only intensify feelings of resentment of injustice.
The Vermont Legislature Joint Rules Committee decided late this afternoon to ask staffers to prepare a resolution for its review tomorrow to recess the Legislature and close the State House for a week due to the coronavirus.
Although recreational marijuana has been legal in Massachusetts since voters approved it in 2016, the pot industry has experienced some serious pushback against dispensaries at the local level.
Lawmakers’ explanations of their votes of S.54, commercial cannabis, and H.926, the revision of Act 250, offer insight into why both of these bills drew both support and opposition from members of both the Democratic and Republican caucuses.
A national commercial cannabis group with funding ties to politically progressive billionaire financier George Soros and other wealthy activists on Tuesday announced a poll claiming 76% of Vermonters support commercial cannabis.
A bill passed the New Hampshire Senate that allows qualified patients and designated caregivers to grow up to three marijuana plants at a time.
As New Hampshire legislators returned to Concord earlier this month, they have been looking at a slate of bills pertaining to marijuana, including legalization and allowing medical patients to grow their own.