Do The Right Thing, New York.

This link to these four free virtual events will be live at 4pm on event days:
DTRTNYWATCH1

Please share these Seven Points. There’s one for each day of the week.
This is all going to happen in the coming weeks. Thank you.

The time is now. We have a big chance right now in February and March to do legalization right. Cannabis Excelsior!

In New York, we’ve had a poor medical marijuana program since 2015, which has been a disservice to our medical community. We want to fix that and make sure the same thing doesn’t happen with long delayed adult use.

There are many examples to follow and best practices to refer to, as we are likely to be the sixteenth or seventeenth state to do this.

Two very different bills are competing.
Big decisions will be made soon, and quickly!
You can read the bills here …

The #MRTA is The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, and that’s the bill from the Legislators, who have worked on it with advocates from the cannabis community for six years. There are supermajorities in both the Senate and the Assembly that can pass it standalone right now.

The urgency is that the proposed budget contains a competing proposal by The Governor, called #CRTA in the form of an “Article 7 Bill,” that will pass if the budget passes. That’s the bill the Governor’s team came up with a couple of years ago, the Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act.

The thing about getting bills passed in the budget is that the politicians don’t have to say what they voted for pot. We don’t want to have the CRTA passed this way without the public being aware.

We want to see a public dialog between the Legislators and the Governor to get the MRTA into the proposed 2022 budget. It can be passed standalone beforehand. Let your leaders know you expect #equity #justice #homegrow and #sustainability in NY’s legalization.

Governor Cuomo, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Assembly Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Senator Liz Krueger and Director Norm Birenbaum are key players and authors of what should be a unified piece of legislation that New York can hold up to the nation.

Among the many issues facing New Yorkers, and the general public, marijuana legalization is not always too close to the top of the list. But it touches on a surprising array of issues that are of great concern to many. In light of the year we had in 2020, #equity and #justice are on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s radar, and are even addressed in the CRTA this year. They are core issues in the MRTA, and have been all along. Another core MRTA issue is Home Grow.

Sometimes it seems that for some members of the cannabis community, Home Grow is not a big issue because they are not familiar with it. Notwithstanding, for Empire State NORML, and all the NY State NORML Chapters, it is a top priority, and a central focus of our efforts for the MRTA with our Do The Right Thing, New York (DTRTNY) campaign. It is a huge issue in terms of fairness and personal freedom, and an urgent issue for many medical marijuana users.

Home Grow is critically important!

Home Grow doesn’t undercut the legal market. In fact, it does undercut the illegal market.

There is no right for the tomato companies to say “you can’t grow your own tomatoes, because we’re gonna sell you tomatoes.” It’s not right. Do the right thing, New York. Don’t let corporate interests take the plant away from us. If they cannot provide what the consumers want, we will grow our own.

You know what undercuts the legal market? Having prices too high because of bad regulations and over-taxation.

Any enforcement under Home Grow provisions will come down on people of color and poor people like it always does. No more drug war.

Medical patients cannot be priced out of the legal market. They need consistent high quality product, and, in some cases, unpopular strains.

We’ll be the sixteenth state to legalize. The roads are safe and the kids are safe in legal states. Safer! The data is there.

In New York two groups oppose legalization for two reasons. Law Enforcement and The PTA oppose because of their own corporate financial needs, firstly, and secondly because of a reefer madness type ignorance along with newer disinformation by other corporate interests.

No one in the legalization movement supports lawlessness. Think about that. We are trying to get the right laws passed.

And we are just as careful with and concerned about our kids and yours as anyone else. Just the same. As far an NIMBY. IIYBY. It’s in your backyard. You don’t hear about it, because nothing bad happens.

Specifically regarding driving. Stoned driving is not drunk driving. A New York cop said he’s done hundreds DUI stops in his career. Two involved “the smell of weed.” Impaired driving due to pot is just not a thing.

There are lots of things you can do well while stoned that you cannot do when you are drunk. Look at the NBA and NHL. Can’t do that when you are drunk.

This money grab Law Enforcement does each time a state legalizes weed. There is no need. Cops go where you are needed. We need you and we respect you. New York can spend tax money on important things people actually need.

The state and local governments should stop spending money on private schemes to use technology to fine and arrest people, to generate government revenues, and private revenues, by putting them in private jails. #personalfreedom

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