Just a day after a bill to legalize marijuana in Louisiana stalled in the state legislature, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said on his live radio program Wednesday that cannabis legalization \u201cis going to happen in Louisiana eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, as a legislator and as governor, I\u2019ve been opposed to legalizing recreational marijuana,\u201d the governor said on the monthly program, Ask the Governor. \u201cI will tell you, I have come to believe that it is going to happen in Louisiana eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwards stressed that while he isn\u2019t yet endorsing legalization\u2014he declined to take a position on pending legislation in the House\u2014he wants to \u201cmake sure that we do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Listen to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards discuss marijuana legalization, around 26:00 into the audio below:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \ufeff<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI suspect you\u2019re going to see a lot of interest and studying the other states and making sure that we have a clear path forward,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cOne of the things that I\u2019ve always said is that before we do it here, we need to make sure we study and learn all the lessons to be learned.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a growing number of people who are sort of where I am,\u201d the governor continued, \u201cnot quite comfortable yet but understanding that we\u2019re likely to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, in a pivot from his years of quickly dismissing questions about legalization, Edwards said that he had \u201cgreat interest\u201d in a marijuana bill<\/a> that had advanced out of a House committee<\/a> just hours earlier. That proposal, however,\u00a0hit a speed bump on Tuesday<\/a>\u00a0after the full House of Representatives rejected a complementary tax measure.<\/p>\n Despite the setback for legalization broadly, numerous other cannabis-related bills have been advancing in the conservative state this session. The House last week\u00a0approved legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana<\/a>, which is now awaiting Senate consideration.<\/p>\n A separate House-passed measure that is also before the Senate would give the state\u2019s existing medical marijuana patients access to cannabis flower and permit them to lawfully smoke it. Currently patients are able to vaporize cannabis preparations via a \u201cmetered-dose inhaler,\u201d but they cannot purchase whole-plant flower and smoking is not allowed.<\/p>\n Edwards proactively brought up both of those measure in the radio appearance<\/a> on Wednesday, suggesting he is closely tracking them and is potentially open to signing the proposals if they reach his desk this session.<\/p>\n The full legalization bill, meanwhile, stalled after the House defeated a companion bill to tax commercial sales. Its sponsor then pulled the legalization measure and a separate complementary bill on licensing fees.<\/p>\n The developments on various cannabis-related legislation comes on the heels of a new poll<\/a> showing that constituents in some of the most firmly Republican districts in the state support legalizing marijuana.<\/p>\n When it comes to legalization, advocates generally expected resistance from Edwards, who has repeatedly expressed opposition to the reform. But this year the governor pledged to take a serious look at its various provisions.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I almost always do, I will take a look at the bill as it arrives on my desk and see what it contains and what amendments have been added to it,\u201d he said last month. \u201cI\u2019m not going to speculate now on that, but I do have great interest in that bill and what it says, especially if it does make it up to the fourth floor. I\u2019ll take a look at it at that point and then make sure that you all know exactly how I feel about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Edwards has been an anomaly among Democratic governors in his steadfast opposition to legalization. He\u2019s signed legislation to expand the state\u2019s medical cannabis program and support the hemp industry, but he\u2019s consistently drawn the line there.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just not in favor of legalizing marijuana,\u201d he said in November 2018, adding that he would like to see how other states have fared after regulating cannabis.<\/p>\n Last year, the legislature significantly expanded the state\u2019s medical marijuana program by passing a bill that allows physicians to recommend cannabis to patients for any debilitating condition that they deem fit instead of from the limited list of maladies that\u2019s used under current law.<\/p>\n Edwards\u00a0signed the measure in June 2020<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0it took effect weeks later<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two other recent polls\u2014including one personally commissioned by a top Republican lawmaker\u2014have found that\u00a0a majority of voters are in favor of legalizing cannabis<\/a>\u00a0for adult use.<\/p>\n Senate Bill Would Allow CBD-Infused Foods, Drinks And Dietary Supplements<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Louisiana Governor Says Cannabis Legalization \u2018Is Going To Happen\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Just a day after a bill to legalize marijuana in Louisiana stalled in the state legislature, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said on his live radio program Wednesday that cannabis legalization \u201cis going to happen in Louisiana eventually.\u201d \u201cIn the past, as a legislator and as governor, I\u2019ve been opposedContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47794"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47795,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47794\/revisions\/47795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\nRead More: Louisiana Governor Says Cannabis Legalization \u2018Is Going To Happen\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"