A bill that would allow for the legal sale of recreational marijuana, with wholesale tax receipts going to fund the state’s public employee and teacher pension systems, has been prefiled for consideration in the upcoming General Assembly session.
The bill, which was filed by Rep. Cluster Howard, a Jackson Democrat, would create a system where the state would license marijuana cultivators, wholesalers and retail establishments. The bill would also allow for some private cultivation of marijuana for home growers, would decriminalize cannabis possession of less than one ounce, and would allow people convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession to have those convictions expunged without having to pay for the expungement.
Howard’s bill is not the only marijuana bill legislators could consider in next year’s General Assembly session. A bill prefiled by Rep. Jason Nemes, a Louisville Republican, would create a medicinal marijuana program for qualifying patients, under state regulation.
Under Howard’s bill, only people age 21 and over would be allowed to purchase recreational cannabis.
Howard said Tuesday said the idea to allow regulated marijuana sales for recreational use has received “more support than I thought initially” among lawmakers and has “great support out in the state.”
“The reason I filed the bill is we did have the issues with pensions and the shortfall,” Howard said, but added “we haven’t looked at ways of raising revenue” to fund the pension systems. Kentucky has one of the worst-funded pension plans for state employees in the nation, with the Kentucky Employee Retirement System having only about 13% of the funds it needs to meet its obligations.
Howard said 75% of funds raised through license fees and wholesale tax revenues on recreational marijuana would go to KERS, and the remaining 25% would be funneled to the Teacher Retirement System.
A sales tax on cannabis would go to the state’s general fund, and local governments would also be allowed to impose a 5% tax on retail sales under Howard’s bill. Marijuana licensing for commercial and private use would be managed by state Alcohol Beverage Control.
A fiscal analysis prepared by the Legislative Research Commission could not predict the fiscal impact of the bill, “(d)ue to the lack of complete data and precedence, the unique geography and population of Kentucky and the inability to accurately predict the implementation time frame …”
Howard said states that have implemented recreational marijuana sales are projected hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue.
“But if you look at other states, this is a great way to produce revenue,” Howard said. The bill includes a provision for people to possess up to five mature marijuana plants, and five immature plants, with a state license.
People are allowed to produce some alcohol at home, so allowing some licensed home-growing of marijuana was included in the bill, Howard said.
Howard said law enforcement officials in his area are not seeing marijuana as a major problem.
“I’m in an area that has huge use of illegal drugs,” he said. “Cannabis is not the issue.”
Cannabis could perhaps be used to treat pain, or help people cope with post-traumatic stress disorder, Howard said.
“In states that have legalized cannabis, teen use has actually decreased,” Howard said.
In July, CNN reported a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics found a decline in the number of high school students who reported using marijuana in states that legalized recreational marijuana.
Dianne McFarling, director of RiverValley Regional Prevention Center and a member of the Alliance for a Drug-Free Owensboro and Daviess County, said the Alliance has not taken a position on legalizing recreational marijuana but said it is an addictive drug.
“For many years, many thought it was psychologically addicting, but it’s a physically addicting drug,” McFarling said Tuesday.
Marijuana use can create a “gateway behavior,” where a person who uses marijuana might be more willing to try other drugs, McFarling said.
Alliance members “don’t have a position, but that may be a good conversation for us to have,” McFarling said.
Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain, who has held leadership positions with both the Kentucky Sheriff’s Association and the National Sheriff’s Association, said the national organization is in support of deregulating marijuana from a Schedule I narcotic to a Schedule II, so it can be studied by the Food and Drug Administration for medical use.
Cain said the National Sheriff’s Association believes cannabis has potential medical benefits, but that the value would come from products produced from cannabis, rather than from smoking marijuana.
“If we recognize there’s a medicinal value, we thought it prudent for the FDA to review it” using federal funds, Cain said. Because marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug, federal dollars can’t be used for scientific studies, Cain said.
The NSA resolution issued earlier this year says the group is against the use of recreational marijuana.
“We have been, and we continue to be vehemently opposed to recreational marijuana,” Cain said, adding that the Kentucky Sheriff’s Association takes the same view.
“I don’t see either entity coming out in support of (recreational) marijuana,” Cain said.
Howard said legalizing recreational use of cannabis now would create more revenue than if cannabis were legalized nationwide in the future.
“You and I both know legalization of cannabis is going to be nationwide in 10 years,” Howard said.
Howard said he was unsure of the bill’s prospects in the 2020 session but said bringing the bill at least means “we’ll have a conversation” about the issue.
“I do think medical (cannabis) has a chance to be heard” in the session, Howard said. “I hope this bill can be heard as well.”
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Written by James Mayse. Cross-posted from the
Messenger-Inquirer via the Kentucky Press News Service.