Tuesday, November 3, 2020
In today's report:
#mississippi Voters Approve Robust Medical Marijuana Initiative Over Lawmakers’ Restrictive Alternate
click here for the link to the video on youtube
The proposal will allow patients with debilitating medical issues to legally obtain marijuana after getting a doctor’s recommendation. It includes 22 qualifying conditions such as cancer, chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, and patients would be allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana per 14-day period.
“This is a huge day for Mississippi and I couldn’t be more excited, humbled or thankful,” Jamie Grantham, communications director for the pro-legalization Mississippians for Compassionate Care, said in a press release.
#newjersey Voters Approve #marijuana #legalization Referendum
Polling on the legalization measure was strong heading into Election Day, with a series of surveys showing 61 to 66 percent of voters in favor of the policy change.
“Garden State voters spoke resoundingly. They are demanding their lawmakers end the failed policy of marijuana criminalization, and instead pursue a more sensible path of regulation and legalization,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said.
“Law enforcement in New Jersey arrests more citizens each year for minor marijuana violations than almost any other state in the nation,” he said. “By moving to end this fiscally wasteful and morally repugnant policy, state officials will now be able to prioritize law enforcement resources toward combating more serious criminal activities, better respect the personal freedom and civil liberties of their citizens, end the racist application of marijuana prohibition laws against communities of color, and direct new tax revenues toward important social programs such as education and infrastructure development.”
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/new-jersey-voters-approve-marijuana-legalization-referendum/
Massachusetts Marijuana Sales Exceed $1 Billion was wSince Adult-Use Sales Launched, Regulators Announce
Massachusetts marijuana sales have officially exceeded $1 billion since the adult-use system launched a little less than two years ago, regulators announced on Tuesday.
According to data from the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system, $1,000,521,905 in cannabis sales have been logged as of October 30.
In the face of the coronavirus pandemic—and despite the state temporarily shutting down recreational marijuana businesses for months in response to the health crisis—more than $539 million in cannabis purchases were made since January 1 of this year alone.
“The careful regulation of cannabis has led to a significant source of revenue for state and local governments at a time when it is deeply needed,” Shaleen Title, who serves as a commissioner on the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), told Marijuana Moment.
She added that it’s “important for citizens to ask for transparency in where this revenue is going and ensure that it’s being spent where the people want it to be spent.”
“Following the lead of Massachusetts, other states’ legalization laws direct cannabis tax revenue into the communities most harmed by drug laws,” Title said. “However, while states like California and Illinois have proudly reinvested cannabis tax revenue into those communities, Massachusetts has not done so yet.”