FRANKFORT, Ky. — Democratic lawmakers on Thursday announced they intend to file a new bill that could pave the way for marijuana legalization in the Commonwealth.
What You Need To Know
- LETT's Grow cannabis legislation is being filed by Democratic lawmakers during this legislative session
- This bill looks to legalize sales, expunge crimes, treat people medically and tax sales on those who use it recreationally
- It will allow for recreational and medical use of the drug in the commonwealth, which is one of 13 states without a form of cannabis legalization
- 37 states do have some form of cannabis legalization
Dubbed the “LETT’s Grow” bill, which stands for Legalize, Expunge, Treat and Tax, it aims to legalize sales of marijuana, expunge past crimes, allow medicinal use and tax sales of cannabis for adults who use it recreationally.
“The LETT’s Grow Bill creates a new signature industry and a new Kentucky-proud product for our farmers to grow, our small businesses and industry to flourish with,” said state representative Rachel Roberts.
If the bill is successful, marijuana could also be used in the medical industry to help treat sick patients, and supporters said it’ll help in the criminal justice system.
“Kentuckians are growing cannabis. They are selling cannabis. They are consuming cannabis,” Roberts said. “We just aren’t regulating it for their safety or benefitting from the tax revenue it should be generating.”
According to Roberts, 37 states already approved state-level cannabis legalization, leaving Kentucky an outlier as one of only 13 states without it.
Lawmakers said they expect some pushback, but they’ve put in time crafting the measure and have studied what does and doesn’t work with cannabis legalization in other states.
“We didn’t make it so restrictive that it couldn’t change. In fact, it was written in a way that you can use the best practices and bring it to the best experts and make sure that this works for Kentucky,” said State Senator David Yates.