Pennsylvania lawmakers are stepping up their push to pass a marijuana legalization bill, emphasizing the need for bipartisan and bicameral collaboration to enact the reform with a focus on social justice.
At a “Cannabis Day at the Capitol” rally hosted by DACO and Black Cannabis Week on Tuesday, several legislators underscored their commitment to advancing legalization in the Keystone State.
Rep. Chris Rabb (D) gave an impassioned speech, stating that lawmakers “don’t talk about the history that put prohibition on this place—and if we don’t acknowledge the context in which this policy was radically changed in the 1930s, then we don’t do justice to the fight today. And that policy change was born out of racism.”
“I’ll say it again, because these are words that a lot of my colleagues don’t want to use—because it may seem impolite or controversial or problematic—but you know what’s more problematic? Racism itself,” he said. “We are here today because there was a time when this plant was associated with people who were marginalized and victimized to benefit other industries who are afraid of cannabis.”
Rabb also seemed to draw a line in the sand on the need to incorporate social
Read full article on Marijuana Moment