Smoke the Vote: Guide to legalize marijuana in the US!

Biography

Position on Marijuana Legalization

Indy Week Candidate Questionnaire - 4/27/22:

11. Do you support reforming North Carolina’s marijuana laws? Do you support full legalization? Please explain your position.

Yes, I support full legalization. I was proud this year to be the lead sponsor in the House of the Marijuana Justice and Reinvestment Act. The bill creates a framework for full medical and recreational legalization of marijuana and decriminalization of marijuana related offenses (with a few exceptions related to public safety). The bill also ensures that people currently in prison or probation for marijuana related offenses would have their records expunged. The bill also sets up a system whereby revenue from the taxation of marijuana would be reinvested in the communities most hurt by the criminalization of marijuana over the past several decades. These communities would also be given first access to licenses for distribution and sales of marijuana.

The current legislature will not likely go as far as my bill proposes, but I do believe we could pass a medical marijuana bill this year. I have been working with the Attorney General and other legislators to prepare for those negotiations. We have set out standards that we believe any bill should meet:

• Uses generated tax dollars to reinvest in communities of color. Taxation of cannabis will be a huge windfall for North Carolina. We must use a large portion of these proceeds to invest in communities that have been hardest hit by racist selective enforcement.

• Allows North Carolinians to benefit from raising, producing, and selling cannabis. In other states, multinational corporations control the marketplace and take profits away from the community. North Carolinians need a chance to prosper from every part of this new economy.

• Uses safeguarding mechanisms even stronger than our liquor distribution model. Love them or hate them, ABC stores allow the state to control place, price and distribution, leading to one of the lowest rates of alcohol abuse in the country while also generating more revenue for the state than a private sales model. Cannabis should have even stronger state control, including the use of a state lab that is responsible for testing and labeling product.

• Supports a robust public health advocacy campaign to discourage underage and other irresponsible uses — such as driving while intoxicated — and inform residents about the science behind cannabis, not the hype. If there’s ever been an industry that doesn’t need advertising to be popular, this is it. Simply put, cannabis should be legalized but not glamorized.

Position on Medical Marijuana

2022 Raleigh News & Observer Voter Guide

SHOULD MEDICAL MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED IN NORTH CAROLINA?

Yes.