By Dalton Rosario
Following Baltimore city’s top prosecutor Marilyn Mosby pledging that her office will end prosecuting possession-related cannabis arrests last week, Maryland is now the latest state to officially have passed cannabis legalization in the forms of possession, purchasing, consuming and cultivating. Individuals can legally carry up to an ounce of dry herb or five concentrate cartridges and home-grow up to four plants per household. Cannabis sales from licensed retailers will be taxed at a modest six percent, with state tax revenues being implemented in programs ranging from substance abuse and DWI prevention to K-12 and reparations for communities disproportionally targeted by law enforcement during cannabis prohibition; including expungements of current and prior possession and cultivation convictions.
As stated by Olivia Naugle, the Marijuana Policy Project’s Legislative Coordinator, in regards to pro-cannabis legislation passing in Maryland, “[cannabis] can be conducted by licensed, taxpaying businesses rather than criminal enterprises. This legislation would improve public health and safety [and] also have the bonus of generating significant new tax revenue for the state.” Maryland is a prime example of the green pendulum sweeping our nation. 2019 has proven to be a year of state lawmakers lining up to file recreational adult use cannabis bills for the benefits of surplus from immediate tax revenues to be allocated and reinvested directly into state programs, while also providing a means of reparations for communities impacted most dearly from cannabis abuses during prohibition.
