So recreational marijuana may
soon be legal in Maryland.
That's what a working group in the
State House of Delegates is looking at.
Right now, recreational weed is already
legal in DC and 17 other states,
including Virginia.
Well now the House Speaker in Maryland,
Adrian Jones says she supports
putting the issue on the ballot.
Now Maryland has decriminalized the
possession of small amounts of marijuana,
but recreational use overall
is still illegal.
Now, the group plans to change that
in the House of Delegates plans to
put the question of legalization.
Voters in 2022, if approved,
the house is working to have pot
legalized by January of 2023,
so there are a lot of issues at
play with passing such a plan.
You gotta talk about licensing
how you going to tax this.
Also have to discuss racial equity
in criminal justice so to take a
closer look at all those issues,
we've invited,
the Workgroup Chairman Delegate Luke
Clippinger to talk about the issue.
So Chairman,
thanks for coming on with us
tonight so your group laid out this
plan for legalization yesterday.
It touches on a wide variety of topics.
Could you just briefly sum it
up for us to plan?
Well, after 18 States and the
District of Columbia have legalized
cannabis for recreational use,
we knew that that this was an issue
that was going to come before us
and we wanted to look at the common
steps that each one of those states
took as they went about the process
of legalizing cannabis and so.
To that end, we've set out a plan
where we're going to take it apart.
We're going to look at the criminal law,
impacts the health care impacts.
Licensing impacts and we're going
to take a look at them and do
a deep dive into all of them.
While at the same time preparing and
putting a referendum on the ballot in 2022,
I think that will be able through
this process to have a solid way
forward and a solid way to regulate
and properly tax the production
of cannabis in Maryland.
Are
you finding widespread support?
Are you finding widespread support
within the General Assembly,
and are you hearing any strong?
Opposition either within or
external to the Assembly. I
think that there are going to be people who
have concerns in the in the legislature.
I think there are a lot of members
of the legislature who strongly
support the legalization of
marijuana and and as you mentioned,
we've taken steps over the last several years
to steadily lower criminal penalties that
eliminate criminal penalties effectively.
Decriminalising marijuana.
I believe that we are
moving in this direction.
I think that with this step.
And with so many different
parts that are part of it,
including issues related to
the licensing in particular,
and making sure that we deal properly
with issues related to equity,
particularly for black and Brown,
Maryland Are's who have been
disproportionately harmed through the
criminalization of marijuana for so long,
that's the work that we need to do,
and we need to do carefully,
and we need to get it right
now. Part of that equity is going to
involve ownership of dispensaries.
I know that that's been a big focus.
Of the group having this
sort of racial parity.
So how is that being discussed?
Well, that's one of the issues
that we're going to be discussing,
and then we're going to focus on.
I believe that's going to
be in our November meeting.
It is clearly one of the biggest,
the biggest impacts that we want
to seek to address and ameliorate.
After years and years of
marijuana being criminalised,
we want to find ways that the
legalization of marijuana
can can help communities that
have been negatively impacted.
You know the the specifics.
We aren't there on the specifics yet, right?
Here in the next couple months,
right? We're really early on here.
One thing that I find rather interesting as
we go into the weeds of this proposal is,
you know the House Speaker.
For instance, she wants to make
legalization a ballot referendum.
And now we hear that the state Senate
President suggested he'd rather pass a
bill in the Assembly to get this going.
So what are the benefits to giving
the voters the decision here and?
And why not just have it make the
General Assembly decide this and
then get the governor's signature?
I, I think that having a step by step
process with careful process is is very
very important as we deal with really,
really difficult issues here and I
I think that by putting it on the
ballot we take the step of giving
the people of the state of Maryland,
but the opportunity to buy in and
and to say as a state this is
something that we want to do and then
we can get the the details right,
get them, spend the time truly.
To get the details right so that we
can avoid some of the pedal pitfalls
that other states have faced,
right? I think that's a key thing here
that a lot of people will appreciate.
A slow and methodical process.
Delegate clipping there.
Thank you so much for coming on
with us tonight. We appreciate it.
Thank you very much for having me back.