Rice on the Failure of Pot Passage: ‘The Public has not Properly been Educated’
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Senator Ronald L. Rice (D-28) today issued the following statement on the failure of the passage of adult-use marijuana in the Senate today:
“I agree with Senate President Steve Sweeney that we should have learned a lesson about the process of legalizing recreational marijuana, which is much different than medical marijuana.
“The public has not properly been educated on the topic of recreational marijuana. People don’t realize, particularly people in urban communities, how it will affect their lives. In urban communities, neighborhoods will struggle against the spread of ‘marijuana bodegas’ disguised as dispensaries.
“We should be pushing for legislation on the decriminalization of recreational marijuana. We should be promulgating for it, especially if it’s not about money and all about social justice like the Governor says it is. I believe if we put together a decriminalization bill, it will receive 120 votes in the Legislature. This is what we should be putting our time and effort into passing.”
Public education is vital. In Vermont, when we passed civil unions too quickly, there was a HUGE pushback. Ten years later, when we passed same sex marriage, it wasn’t nearly as big a struggle. As you know, you can’t get too far out in front of your constituents. I think it was good that Vermont legalized medical, and then cannabis for personal use, before we started trying to tackle a tax®ulate system. People do need to know the sky isn’t going to fall, and they need spokespeople they can relate to.