“Hundreds of thousands of Americans unduly carry the burden and stigma of a past conviction for behavior that most Americans, and a growing number of states, no longer consider to be a crime,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “Our sense of justice and our principles of fairness demand that public officials and the courts move swiftly to right the past wrongs of cannabis prohibition and criminalization.”
The District of Columbia’s city council has recently approved the Medical Cannabis Amendment Act, significantly expanding medical cannabis operations in DC.
“Voters and lawmakers took significant steps this year to repeal marijuana prohibition laws and to provide relief to those tens millions of Americans who have suffered as a result of them,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said.
“A robust, above-ground retail marijuana market is necessary in order to disrupt the unregulated marketplace and to assure that consumers have adequate access to lab-tested, high quality products at competitive prices.”
“This important legal reform is the result of more than 50 years of work by activists affiliated with NORML,” said Dan Viets, co-author of Amendment 3, Missouri NORML Coordinator, and Chair of the Amendment 3 Advisory Board.
“Especially as Connecticut employers seek to fill hundreds of thousands of job openings, an old conviction for low-level cannabis possession should not hold someone back from pursuing their career, housing, professional, and educational aspirations.”
Today, even in jurisdictions where cannabis remains criminalized under state law, tens of millions of Americans reside in cities and counties where local laws either depenalizing or decriminalizing cannabis-related activities are in effect.
“We are proud to launch adult use sales in Rhode Island just six months after the Cannabis Act was signed into law, marking the Northeast’s fastest implementation period,” said Matt Santacroce, interim deputy director of the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation.