Let The People Decide

These days, when cannabis is on the ballot, the people vote in favor of having dispensaries, aka consumers being able to buy weed. This speaks volumes.

There are many jurisdictions throughout NYS where it is the community boards that have decided not to allow dispensaries in their communities. Why is the obvious question. Now, areas that have said yes are starting to reap the tax benefits. Let’s hope NYS figures out a way for this industry to grow and for more taxes to be put back into these towns.

There is so much information being tossed around these days that it is hard to pay attention and figure out what’s real and what’s not. There are polls, of course, that can tell us what the majority of Americans are thinking, but that doesn’t mean the Senators and Congresspeople will vote that way. Sadly, at this point, we all know that corruption is rampant everywhere, as it is literally in our face.

The one thing I have always loved about California ballot propositions is that the people get to speak. A referendum can be placed on the ballot through the California State Legislature or through a petition signed by a number of registered voters equal to 5% of the total votes. Then of course the entire state votes on whether to pass that proposition. The positive is that the people get to speak, the negative is that the government is not set up for the change that just took place and it takes years for the legal system to hammer it out.

All that being said, when it comes to cannabis and the false narrative that has been fed to us for decades, the people are speaking quite clearly that they want a dispensary in their states and towns, just like a liquor store and a pharmacy.  Unfortunately, most of the legislature will need to be rewritten to force those towns to shift, which speaks loudly about how the government tiptoed too lightly on this.

All of the people running for office should be listening to the people, not to the money at the top, and I believe they will be rewarded for having a dispensary in town and for the tax dollars flowing into the system.