The voters of Virginia are the last line of defense against a bill that Democrat leaders in Richmond are advancing that would create a huge marijuana industry in the Commonwealth. If we, voters, were given the chance to decide this matter by referendum, we would want to have answers to the following:
1). How will this law help average Virginians and their families become stronger, healthier and more productive?
2). Who really benefits from the creation of a marijuana industry and why are Virginia’s tobacco companies advocating its legalization?
3). Why should the General Assembly be creating a giant organization called the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority that would be accountable only to the Governor and not to the public? As an independent political subdivision, it would operate outside the “legislative, executive (and) judicial branches of state government,” be exempt from Virginia’s personnel and procurement laws, would have absolute authority over the licensing and management of the marijuana industry’s cultivation facilities, manufacturing facilities, testing facilities, wholesalers and retailers, and even have an independent police force to enforce its regulations.
4). Is this legislation really in the “public interest”? Residents of the fifteen states that have legalized marijuana probably don’t think so. Colorado, for instance, has experienced a 30% increase in regular use of a highly potent and dangerous form of marijuana that has more than doubled the number of marijuana-related traffic deaths; increased marijuana-related suicides to 23% of all suicides; increased mental illness such as schizophrenia and severe depression; increased the percentage of adolescents, ages 17 and 18, who are regular users of marijuana to roughly 35% (if dropouts are included) with nearly half of them inhaling vapors of concentrated marijuana by “dabbing” or “vaping” either liquids or solids; and increased a condition that educators call “amotivational syndrome” which is characterized by apathy, social withdrawal and impaired memory and concentration.
5). Governor Northam calls legalizing recreational marijuana a part of his “social justice agenda” because the Cannabis Control Authority would give “social equity” awards to some of those applying for store licenses, but isn’t this legislation unjust to everyone except the politically well-connected, especially those families who would find themselves living down the street from marijuana stores that would be “attractive nuisances” for their adolescent children?
6). Why should Democrats in Richmond corrupt Virginia as those states that have legalized marijuana have been corrupted? The Cannabis Control Authority would allow localities to recommend licenses and sites for marijuana stores, but authorizing local officials to be the gatekeepers for million-dollar businesses has made those states the breeding grounds for extortion, bribery and favoritism.
Six years after Colorado legalized marijuana, its economy and culture have been forever damaged. Denver’s homeless population has increased by 30% and there are now twice as many marijuana stores in Colorado as there are Starbucks coffee shops and McDonalds restaurants.
Please join me in demanding that this very important issue be decided by referendum of Virginia voters this November.
David Stegmaier is a member of the Frederick County Board of Supervisors.
