For many years Marijuana, a herbal refreshment that stimulates the mind, body, and souls all over the planet has been deemed federally unacceptable in the United States of America. It’s time that ‘We the people’ free ourselves and put legislative power in our hands to stimulate the change we long deserve. This is to let the Senate know that we along with the House are in support of this movement. Currently, a bill is making it’s way through the House to legalize recreational marijuana formed by Rep. Rachel Roberts that could potentially work in the favor of us in our community that includes expunging misdemeanor charges for the plant and a tax plan to tackle the real war on opioid dependency and the gateway into harmful drugs with a lifetime impact.

Some of the key points of this bill include

• Home growers of cannabis would pay $250 for a permit. This would mean they could have up to five mature plants and five immature plants in their possession.
• Any other licensees would have to pay fees based on their size.
• Anyone with a prior misdemeanor marijuana conviction that hasn’t been expunged, or anyone who has been convicted of a felony in the past five years, or other controlled-substance crime within the past two years would be unable to purchase a license.
• Each Kentucky county could have at least two cannabis retailers. Larger counties would be prohibited from having more than one retailer per 2,300 people. Retailers could only sell marijuana-related products.
• Cannabis sales would be limited to people over 21 years of age. Smoking marijuana in public would be prohibited.
  Kentucky’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board would oversee four kinds of cannabis licensing -- cultivator, processor, tester, and retailer, and each would require an annual renewal.
  25% of new cannabis tax revenue would go toward addiction treatment for KY’s opioid epidemic as well as funding more educational and economic opportunities for minorities who have been “disproportionately” affected by the war on drugs.
• The remaining funds from the tax revenue would be placed in the General Fund to give flexible spending as needs change over time.
• Additionally, money would be provided to help establish the agricultural and regulatory frameworks needed to make this legislation successful.
  
  A permanent legislative committee would give oversight.

We too deserve to regulate changes! Signing this petition would be the first step, as well contacting our elected officials in support of the change and/or adding recommendations could promote a greater change in the evolution of our city!