This week in cannabis news: Illinois uses its cannabis tax revenue to help give back to communities in need. A disabled veteran is serving time for medical cannabis. Canadian police chiefs are looking to have federal decriminalization of ALL drugs. Watch the video to learn more about these topics!
We previously reported on Illinois’s new Restore, Reinvest, and Renew program.
The state’s recreational cannabis laws dictate that 25% of net tax revenue go toward reinvesting into communities harmed by the War on Drugs.
The program focuses on legal aid, reentry for former inmates, economic and youth development and much more.
Since Illinois has hit record cannabis sales, the state has collected $52 million in tax revenue in the first 6 months of 2020
In 2016, Sean Worsely was stopped by Alabama police for loud music when they eventually discovered medical cannabis in his possession.
Worsely is an Iraq veteran who suffers from a TBI and PTSD and was a medical patient in his home state of Arizona at the time of his arrest.
However, because he was in the state of Alabama where medical cannabis is not legal, both he and his wife were arrested.
In addition to the cannabis, alcohol and his prescription pills were also found which escalated their case.
They spent 6 days in jail and once released, they went back home to live their lives.
But one year later, they were summoned back to Alabama for failure to appear in court.
Because of his disabilities, Worsely struggles to make informed decisions on his own and somehow became convinced that he needed to sign a plea deal or else both he and his wife would get jail time.
He ultimately received 60 months in prison.
The only people serving prison time for cannabis in the state of Alabama are for serious trafficking charges which has brought many to speak out in his Worsely’s defense.
This is yet another prime example of why legalization is urgent in this country.
They cited that current laws have been ineffective and do not save lives.
And recognize that substance use and addiction is a public health issue, not a criminal one.
The CACP further recommended that the current approach should be replaced with a healthcare format that would keep people out of the criminal justice system
And there needs to be consistent supply of pharmaceutical-grade opioids for those who need it to prevent overdoses.
The majority of the overdose deaths in Canada are accidental and largely due to illegally obtained products containing fentanyl.
When the police are demanding decriminalizing all drugs, you know that change needs to happen.
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