The legislative season is getting underway, here come the marijuana legalization bills, and more.
Kentucky Lawmaker Files Marijuana Legalization Constitutional Amendment [15]. After years of the Republican-dominated state legislature blocking all efforts at marijuana reform, state Rep. Nima Kulkarni (D) has filed a constitutional amendment (House Bill 48 [16]) that would let the state's voters decide directly whether to legalize marijuana. The amendment would ask voters whether they want to decriminalize possession of up to an ounce and allow for the home cultivation of up to five plants. It does not include provisions for a regulated marijuana market. She has also filed a measure, House Bill 47 [17], that would simply decriminalize possession.
Minnesota DFL Files Marijuana Legalization Bill [18]. Nineteen Democratic-Farm-Labor (DFL) members of the House filed a marijuana legalization bill, House Fill 100 [19], on Thursday. The measure is largely similar to the legalization bill passed by the House last year, which never got a vote in the Senate. The bill include social equity provisions, expungement provisions, provisions allowing local governments the power to restrict marijuana sales, and an 8 percent sales tax. The bill now heads to the House Commerce Finance and Policy committee, and will likely be put to discussion in various committees.
Virginia GOP Lawmaker Files Bill to Create Regulated Marijuana Market [20]. Del. Keith Hodges (R) has filed a bill to create a regulated marijuana market, House Bill 1464 [21]. But some advocates say the measure would gut social equity provisions in favor of providing incentives to corporations to invest in low-income communities. The state currently allows adult-use marijuana possession and home cultivation, but a legal market will not come into being for several years, and the law does not allow the state's existing medical marijuana dispensaries to sell to adults.
Detroit Adult-Use Marijuana Sales Have Begun [22]. Recreational marijuana sales in Michigan's largest city began on Wednesday, when the House of Dank medical marijuana dispensary opened its doors to recreational buyers. Just hours later, another dispensary, DaCut, similarly opened its doors to recreational buyers. "Going recreational in Detroit is a huge milestone for us," Crystal Jamo, general manager of House of Dank, said. "Just because we've been waiting for it for so long that, like, 'Pinch me, is it real?'"