If you haven’t voted yet, please consider voting NO on Issue # 4, the Adult Use Cannabis Amendment. We would all like to see decriminalization of marijuana possession. We would all like to see retail sales of marijuana to adults. But Issue 4 is a scam and, big surprise, it’s all about money.
The first consideration is that Issue 4 is an AMENDMENT to the state constitution. It’s not a statute, a law, written by the legislature. It is permanently added to the constitution. What should be an issue of law is instead being baked into our state’s founding document.
It may sound attractive to make cannabis available to everyone, but there are substantive reasons to vote NO on Issue 4.
Currently there are 8 licensed growers. The amendment increases the number of grower licenses but limits the new growers to 250 plants, while the big 8 can produce as many plants as they wish to. This essentially disadvantages the newbies from the git-go, who would be unable to compete.
Also predictable is the end of medical marijuana. With growers able to produce high THC products there will be little incentive to develop new strains for medical use.
Individuals will still be forbidden to grow their own, further locking in the big 8 producers with no competition.
The amendment permits a single entity(person or corporation) to own up to 18 of the eventual 80 dispensaries (not growers) statewide, further discouraging competition.
The FOR advertisements say “Hires More Police Officers and Raises Salaries.” There’s no mention of a need to hire more police officers, nor of how or where the newbies are to be assigned. Funding the police has nothing at all to do with legalizing cannabis non-medical use. Our police are part of the scam (and it is a scam). They have done nothing but lend their good name to the FOR effort. In exchange they anticipate a payout. The amendment describes a stipend to police statewide. A stipend is “a fixed regular sum paid as a salary or allowance.” In other words, law enforcement officers will receive a permanent, unearned and unnecessary bonus, regardless of merit and, again, having nothing to do with legalization.
If you’ve seen any of the advertising FOR the amendment you’ve noticed that “Fund the Police” is prominently displayed. Isn’t this a too-obvious counter to the “Defund the Police” demands that swept the country in response to cops killing Blacks? Can we say, racist dog-whistle?
Besides, the ads conveniently omit the obvious reduction of police workloads that comes with legalization.
And finally, if you have any doubt that the entire issue is about money, take a look at who’s behind the Vote FOR advertising blitz. And keep in mind, this does not include expenditures to place the amendment on the ballot in the first place. Nearly $1,000,000 has been contributed by the big 8 growers, dispensary owners and their associates, chump-change compared to the many millions those contributors will realize as a result of the stranglehold on competition this amendment will ensure.
Issue 4 is not an honest attempt to ease restrictions on the recreational use of marijuana. It is, undeniably, a money grab by the big 8 growers, dispensary owners and law enforcement.
Vote NO on Issue 4!