“I want to ensure that when it is legal, that it’s Louisiana citizens that have the opportunity to take part in this economic opportunity.”
By Wesley Muller, Louisiana Illuminator
For the third year in a row, the Louisiana legislature will have the chance to vote on a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana and incorporate its cultivation and sale into the state’s economy.
House Bill 17, sponsored by Rep. Candace Newell (D), is one in a package of bills that would build a new industry for recreational marijuana in Louisiana.
In a phone interview Friday, Newell said the bill would establish state regulations and pave the way for cannabis to create new jobs and a windfall of revenue from taxes and licensing fees.
The proposal would allow the state to issue 10 licenses for facilities to cultivate, process and manufacture recreational marijuana and 40 permits for retailers to sell the flower and related cannabis products. The permits would be distributed evenly across eight geographic regions in the state.
Newell has filed a separate measure, House Bill 24, that would decriminalize possession and distribution of marijuana upon legislative enactment of a regulatory system and the establishment of a tax on recreational sales.
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