Skip to main content

The St. Kitts And Nevis Government Is Filing A Marijuana Legalization Bill This Week

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed a bill on Monday further decriminalizing marijuana possession and enabling those with prior cannabis convictions to have their records expunged.

The law, which takes effect in 30 days, will make it so that possession of up to two ounces of marijuana is punishable by a $50-$200 fine with no jail time. Cuomo said the state’s existing cannabis policy has disproportionately impacted communities of color and, with the signing of the legislation, “we are ending this injustice once and for all.”

“By providing individuals who have suffered the consequences of an unfair marijuana conviction with a path to have their records expunged and by reducing draconian penalties, we are taking a critical step forward in addressing a broken and discriminatory criminal justice process,” he said in a press release.

While reform advocates celebrated the development, it’s not the comprehensive legalization bill that many hoped would pass before the end of the legislative session. Cuomo, who included legalization in his budget proposal and negotiated with lawmakers throughout the year to get a bill to his desk, ultimately said a deal couldn’t be reached in time.

Debates over how to allocate tax revenue from cannabis sales and whether to allow individual jurisdictions to opt out of allowing marijuana businesses operate were two major issues that derailed the legalization push.

Decriminalization expansion proved easier to accomplish, with the Senate and Assembly approving the legislation in the closing hours of the session last month.

Sen. Jamaal Bailey (D), sponsor of the bill, said that creating a “mechanism for expungement, both retroactively and forward-looking, is a step in the right direction in finally ending the heavy-handed war on drugs that has decimated communities of color.”

Providing for expungements was a top priority for legalization advocates, who argued that establishing a legal cannabis market that would create economic opportunities would have to be accompanied by a pathway to clear records for those with past marijuana convictions.

“This law is an important step in righting decades of injustice caused by the state’s current drug laws,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) said. “Decriminalizing marijuana and expunging records for those with low level offenses will go a long way towards helping our communities, and especially people of color, who have been devastated by them.”

“By removing the barriers and stigma that come with these records, we clear the path for many New Yorkers to find a job, housing and go on to live successful and productive lives,” he said.

Kevin Sabet, president of the prohibitionist group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), said the legislation isn’t “perfect,” but there’s “no use making perfect the enemy of good.”

“This is common sense legislation we are proud of,” he said, arguing that SAM contributed to the defeat of marijuana legalization in the state while holding up decrim expansion as an alternative.

Sen. Diane Savino (D), a longtime champion of cannabis reform, responded to the bill’s signing by stating that decriminalization is just “[s]light progress… cause you are still buying it from criminals, just sayin.”

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) said that decriminalization “is an essential part of reforming our state’s broken justice system.”

“For too long, communities of color have been disproportionately targeted and negatively impacted,” she said. “The Senate Democratic Majority will continue our efforts for full legalization and regulation of marijuana, and today’s decriminalization is a good first step.”

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes (D) said that people of color “have been the target of discriminatory criminal justice policies and have suffered serious consequences for the possession of small amounts of marijuana, while others were never arrested or charged.”

“By decriminalizing marijuana use in New York once and for all, we are ending this repressive cycle that unfairly targets certain communities,” she said.

Efforts to legalize cannabis also stalled and failed in neighboring New Jersey this year, with lawmakers stating that the issue would be left up to voters as a 2020 ballot measure. In Illinois, meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) made good on his campaign promise and signed a legalization bill last month.

Legalizing Marijuana Deliveries Can Reduce Impaired Driving, Colorado Governor Says

Photo elements courtesy of Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Carlos Gracia.

Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

Original Article Source: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/the-st-kitts-and-nevis-government-is-filing-a-marijuana-legalization-bill-this-week/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Could CBD Lead To The Development Of Safer Antipsychotic Medications?

Antipsychotic medications are important for managing a number of different psychiatric ailments, including bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and even dementia. These drugs can greatly improve the manageability of symptoms that often distort one’s experience of reality. They can also create major mood disruptions and lead to a number of behavioral and emotional difficulties. Antipsychotic and anti-psychosis medications can be life-changing for people with such disorders, enabling them to live more normal and manageable lives without their symptoms taking over. These drugs work by regulating neurotransmitters in the brain so that naturally occurring imbalances and dysfunctions no longer disrupt mental and emotional processes. Often, reaching this outcome is much easier said than done; it can take a lot of time to find courses and combinations of treatments that work. It’s sometimes necessary to make adjustments to find the right balance for the individual and it’s not unusual for outc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Can Medical Marijuana Help Aging Parents With Dementia?

For decades, marijuana, even for medical uses, was demonized or questioned.  When states like Colorado legalized it for recreational use, more studies began to determine provable efficacy for its use as a medicine. The Federal government still classifies marijuana the same way it classifies heroin: harmful and with no medical benefits. Now we can see that this is wrong. When states legalized marijuana, referred to as cannabis here, they had an interest in getting data to see what good it could do. Proving efficacy could increase medical marijuana sales, benefit people who might at least find some medical use, and overall would bring tax dollars into the state coffers. Without funding studies, the Federal government has done very little to demonstrate what good cannabis can do. After all, if the presumption is that it helps nothing, there would be no motivation to determine with scientific data that it does anyone any good. But we have convincing data now about its beneficial use ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cannabis Watch: Canopy Growth To Book Charge Of Up To $568 Million As Marijuana Restructuring Continues

Canopy Growth Corp. said early Thursday it was halting a range of operations across three continents and expects its restructuring plans to result in a charge of up to C$800 million (567.9 million) in the fiscal fourth quarter. U.S.-traded shares US:CGC CA:WEED of the cannabis company fell 1.9% in afternoon trading. Canopy said it was selling operations in Africa, curtailing cultivation of hemp in the U.S. and Columbia, and shutting down an indoor production facility in Canada. The announcement will result in 85 job cuts, the company said. “When I arrived at Canopy Growth in January, I committed to conducting a strategic review in order to lower our cost structure and reduce our cash burn,” Canopy Chief Executive David Klein said in a statement. Read: As cannabis industry stays largely quiet on coronavirus, this CEO has been sounding the alarm Canopy’s restructuring announcement was expected by investors, Cowen analyst Vivien Azer wrote in a note to clients Thursday. Azer rate...
Post a Comment
Read more