To: The New Jersey State House, The New Jersey State Senate, and Governor Phil Murphy
NJ Government: Legalize marijuana/hemp the right way!
New Jersey could become a national model for smart, socially just cannabis laws. A coalition of small farmers and other New Jersey residents have compiled the following strong recommendations:
1. Ensure that people of color benefit from the economic opportunities resulting from the end of cannabis prohibition, which brings immense and disproportionate harm to communities of color.
2. Bring justice to all those convicted of non-violent marijuana-related offenses in the form of amnesty — commuted sentences, expunged criminal records — because no one should benefit from legalized cannabis while so many still suffer from its illegality.
3. Allow small farmers — many of whom are struggling — to grow and sell marijuana and hemp, either as individual businesses or as members of larger cooperatives.
4. Permit cannabis to be grown in soil and exposed to direct sunlight, and not only in warehouses.
5. Sanction only the organic production of cannabis, in order to establish both marijuana and hemp as safe and sustainable crops (in contrast to chemical-intensive industrial crops which cause so much damage to human health, natural ecosystems, and the global climate).
6. Pursue legal action to force the federal government to remove cannabis from the "Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act" list, which is supposed to be reserved for drugs with no medical use.
7. Facilitate the creation of industry standards for the production of safe medicine from cannabis, a key issue as unsafe, unregulated cannabis products (in the form of CBD oil) become available across the United States.
It is critical that we refuse to allow entrenched interests (such as the liquor lobby or pharmaceutical companies) to dictate the future of cannabis in New Jersey and across the United States. The war against cannabis prohibition may be coming to an end, but it will be a false victory unless the benefits of legalization are widely shared.
1. Ensure that people of color benefit from the economic opportunities resulting from the end of cannabis prohibition, which brings immense and disproportionate harm to communities of color.
2. Bring justice to all those convicted of non-violent marijuana-related offenses in the form of amnesty — commuted sentences, expunged criminal records — because no one should benefit from legalized cannabis while so many still suffer from its illegality.
3. Allow small farmers — many of whom are struggling — to grow and sell marijuana and hemp, either as individual businesses or as members of larger cooperatives.
4. Permit cannabis to be grown in soil and exposed to direct sunlight, and not only in warehouses.
5. Sanction only the organic production of cannabis, in order to establish both marijuana and hemp as safe and sustainable crops (in contrast to chemical-intensive industrial crops which cause so much damage to human health, natural ecosystems, and the global climate).
6. Pursue legal action to force the federal government to remove cannabis from the "Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act" list, which is supposed to be reserved for drugs with no medical use.
7. Facilitate the creation of industry standards for the production of safe medicine from cannabis, a key issue as unsafe, unregulated cannabis products (in the form of CBD oil) become available across the United States.
It is critical that we refuse to allow entrenched interests (such as the liquor lobby or pharmaceutical companies) to dictate the future of cannabis in New Jersey and across the United States. The war against cannabis prohibition may be coming to an end, but it will be a false victory unless the benefits of legalization are widely shared.
Why is this important?
New Jersey just inaugurated a new Democratic governor who ran on a platform of legalizing marijuana. As the son of a cancer patient who utilized medical marijuana to bring relief before her death, and a small farmer who wants all farmers to have the opportunity to grow hemp and marijuana, I believe this is a critical moment for New Jersey. We could enact smart, socially just cannabis laws — including amnesty for people convicted of breaking laws against marijuana — or we could hand over control of a new, officially-sanctioned industry to entrenched interests that already wield so much power in this state. We need people-friendly, farmer-friendly marijuana laws!