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Three Kentucky Democrats, including a top party official in the state Senate, have unveiled sweeping bills to end cannabis prohibition by legalizing sales to adults over 21, establishing a medical marijuana program for registered patients and expunging past convictions that the sponsors say never should have been charged in the first place.<\/p>\n
Senate Minority Floor Leader Morgan McGarvey , Sen. David Yates and Rep. Rachel Roberts introduced the 74-page legislation on Thursday. A competing Republican-led proposal filed in January would legalize only medical cannabis<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Democratic sponsors of the new bills said at a press conference that their plan would allow the state to catch up with the 37 others that already allow patients access to medical marijuana, establish a new revenue stream for the state and local governments and free law enforcement to focus on more serious crimes.<\/p>\n \u201cOur legislation is the comprehensive plan that Kentuckians deserve, and it builds on what\u2019s worked in other states while avoiding their mistakes,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n \u201cKentucky continues to fall behind in an area where we could be leading,\u201d said McGarvey. \u201cIt is 2022. It\u2019s time we end the prohibition on cannabis in Kentucky.\u201d<\/p>\n The legislation\u2014SB 186<\/a>\u00a0in the Senate and\u00a0HB 521<\/a> in the House\u2014is dubbed LETT\u2019s Grow, an acronym built of the bills\u2019 main components: Legalizing sales, expunging crimes, treatment through medical use and taxing of adult-use sales.<\/p>\n It would also expand funding for treatment of substance use disorder and earmark a portion of state proceeds for scholarship programs and grants to groups that have been disproportionately impacted by the drug war.<\/p>\n Democrats, who have a minority of seats in both chambers, said at the start of this year\u2019s session that legalization would be a top priority for 2022<\/a>, calling the policy change long overdue and noting that cannabis reform enjoys bipartisan support among voters in the state\u2014a point sponsors of the new bill echoed on Thursday.<\/p>\n Nothing polls higher or more bipartisan in Kentucky than cannabis legalization. It\u2019s time\u2026 L.E.T.T.\u2019s GROW our economy, industry, healthcare options, and new jobs! #lettsgrow<\/a> #legalize<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/UnreZi9AKI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Representative Rachel Roberts (@Rachel4KY) February 17, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n A\u00a0poll released in 2020 found\u00a0that nine out of 10 Kentucky residents support legalizing medical marijuana<\/a>, and almost 60 percent say cannabis should be legal under \u201cany circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n Kentucky is already a competitive hemp producer, harvesting about 1,500 acres of the crop last year, according to a new federal study of the hemp industry<\/a>\u2014more than all but eight other U.S. states.<\/p>\n If passed, the new bill would legalize possession of up to a one ounce of marijuana in public and up to 12 ounces in a private space. Sharing of up to an ounce of cannabis between adults or patients would also be legal. People legally allowed to possess and use cannabis could also grow their own at home, with up to 10 mature marijuana plants per person.<\/p>\n Medical use would be allowed for any medical condition \u201cfor which an authorized practitioner believes that a cardholder patient may receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the use of medical cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cOur plan is both comprehensive and caring,\u201d Roberts said of the new Democratic bill. \u201cIt helps those who are sick. It gives a second chance to those who shouldn\u2019t have been charged And it would put Kentucky almost overnight at the epicenter of a multibillion-dollar business.\u201d<\/p>\n The competing Republican medical cannabis measure is far more restrictive. Under that proposal, patients would need to have one of several specified qualified conditions, although regulators could add more. Both home cultivation and smoking of cannabis would also remain illegal for patients. And no adult-use whatsoever would be allowed.<\/p>\n While the state\u2019s governor, Andy Beshear, is a Democrat, his initial reaction to the legislation Thursday seemed more aligned with Republicans. He told reporters at a press conference that he supported medical cannabis, but he didn\u2019t comment on adult use.<\/p>\n Late last year Beshear said that \u201cIt\u2019s time we joined so many other states in doing the right thing\u201d and added that Kentucky farmers would be well positioned to grow and sell cannabis to other states<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new plan from the Democratic lawmakers plan leaves many program specifics to regulators, including\u00a0limits on dosage, potency, overall THC content and packaging.<\/p>\n Overseeing the new industry\u2014and setting rules around not only business behavior but also possession and use\u2014would be a seven-member Cannabis Control Board.\u00a0The board would license a cannabis cultivators, processors and manufacturers, testing labs, retail stores, special events, social consumption spaces, transporters and any other category deemed necessary by regulators. A separate category of licenses would be created for so-called microbusinesses.<\/p>\n The new bill would also create four standalone advisory committees to advise the board on adult use, medical cannabis, cultivation as well as social and economic equity.<\/p>\n Sales of adult-use cannabis would be taxed at 6 percent at the state level, with municipalities able to add fees of up to 5 percent combined between local jurisdictions. Overall, sales would be taxed at no more than 11 percent, which is lower than most other legal states.<\/p>\n All products would need to carry an advisory label and include basic details including ingredients and additives, net weight, an expiration or use-by date and \u201clabeling that differentiates between medical cannabis products and adult use cannabis products.\u201d Further, all packaging would need to be opaque.<\/p>\n The bill would also forbid employers or professional organizations from discriminating against people who use cannabis off the job provided it does not affect their work performance or compromise safety. Smoking marijuana in public would remain illegal but be punishable by a maximum $100 fine.<\/p>\n Anyone ever convicted of a misdemeanor for possession, delivery or manufacture of cannabis or cannabis-related paraphernalia could petition a court for expungement. The process would happen automatically after a year, although people could petition a court for expungement earlier.<\/p>\n People who\u2019ve been convicted for cannabis \u201cshould not be saddled with a criminal record and the lifelong penalties and stigma associated with it,\u201d Yates said. \u201cWe have put too many people behind bars for this offense. Our lockups are full of them, and that is both unjust and costly.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearly 7,600 Kentuckians, disproportionately Black people and young people, were arrested in the state in 2018 on cannabis charges, the senator, noting that most of the arrests were for possession.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, McGarvey has posted a series of vides on TikTok that humorously express frustration about Kentucky\u2019s lack of progress on marijuana as other states enact reforms.<\/p>\n Mississi-pissed off? Speak up \u266c original sound \u2013 MeemzyTv<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n The new bills face a difficult path in the Republican-controlled legislature. On the other side of the aisle, even longtime medical cannabis backer Rep. Jason Nemes (R) has added restrictions to past versions of his legislation to make his new bill more appealing to the state\u2019s conservatives.<\/p>\n Nemes in 2020 filed a medical legalization bill that soundly passed the House<\/a> but later died in the Senate amid the early coronavirus pandemic. He reintroduced the legislation<\/a>\u00a0for the 2021 session, but it did not advance.<\/p>\n In recent months, Nemes has been been\u00a0working to build support<\/a> for a new, scaled-back version a medical marijuana bill and in October said he was confident it could pass if only legislative leaders have the \u201ccourage\u201d to allow a vote on it.<\/p>\n The narrow approach is designed to win support among GOP leaders in the state Senate, who\u2019ve killed past versions of Nemes\u2019s proposal. Senate Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R), for example, steadfastly opposes the change, having warned that it\u2019s a fast track to full legalization.<\/p>\n \u201cI know my constituents are for it,\u201d Thayer, who owns a whiskey distillery, said during a televised panel earlier this year<\/a>. \u201cBut this is a republic, and they elect us to go to Frankfort and make decisions on their behalf\u2014and if they don\u2019t like it, they can take it out on me in the next election.\u201d<\/p>\n Others remain wary, such as House Speaker Pro Tempore David Meade (R), who said at the panel that he was still \u201con the fence\u201d about medical cannabis.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, another Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Nima Kulkarni, prefiled separate legislation late last year that would legalize possession, limited sales and home cultivation of marijuana<\/a>.<\/p>\n USDA Releases Results Of \u2018Benchmark\u2019 National Hemp Survey, Finding Crop Reached $824 Million In Value Last Year<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Kentucky Democrats File Bills To Legalize Marijuana<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Three Kentucky Democrats, including a top party official in the state Senate, have unveiled sweeping bills to end cannabis prohibition by legalizing sales to adults over 21, establishing a medical marijuana program for registered patients and expunging past convictions that the sponsors say never should have been charged in theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":53065,"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\/53064"}],"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=53064"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53066,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53064\/revisions\/53066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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Let \u2018em know! #kysenatedems<\/a> #kydems<\/a> #ky<\/a> #kentucky<\/a> #poltics<\/a> #fyp<\/a> #foryoupage<\/a> #medical<\/a> #legalizeit<\/a> #decriminalize<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\nRead More: Kentucky Democrats File Bills To Legalize Marijuana<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"