Going into this year, everyone said that marijuana legalization was inevitable and that we should lay down and accept it. But SAM’s network of health and addiction recovery professionals would not give up on public health and safety so easily.
In Illinois, we worked diligently with Healthy and Productive Illinois and local leaders, including students from Adlai Stevenson High School, to defeat a bill that would have put marijuana commercialization on the ballot.
In April, HPI, SAM Action, and students held a press conference to highlight a working paper that found marijuana legalization would cost the state of Illinois upwards of $670 million, far outweighing the prospective tax revenues. bit.ly/2JeTTrg
At the end of May, the Illinois State Legislature adjourned its session without moving forward on recreational marijuana.
In Vermont, several legislators attempted a “Hail Mary” by trying to quickly move a stagnant bill to commercialize marijuana in the state. SAM Vermont met with legislators and pulled out a win as the bill was overwhelmingly voted down. bit.ly/2sKVk5r
New Hampshire also said no to legalizing marijuana this year. New Futures, a SAM Action affiliate, worked hard within the state to urge lawmakers to heed the lessons learned from other legalized states.
The pot lobby was ready to declare victory in Connecticut as a legalization bill passed out of committee. After CT-SAM released a cost study highlight how it would cost the state $216 million, both chambers refused to bring the bill to the floor. bit.ly/2Lsqeaq
Finally, SAM and NJ-RAMP have successfully worked to slow down @GovMurphy's push to commercialize pot in New Jersey. He promised pot would be legal within his first 100 days. No dice.
While the pot industry wants folks to believe that commercialization is inevitable, the results we have seen in these states challenge that assertion.
Big Pot won’t give up so easily, they have too much money on the line. But we won’t give up either – we have the future of the country on the line. #peoplebeforeprofits
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