Victory Alert: Governor Vetoes Marijuana Bills!
Last week Governor Youngkin sent a strong message to the giant marijuana industry – stay out of our communities, away from our children, and away from vulnerable people with addictions. On Thursday, the Governor vetoed HB 698 (D-Krizek) and SB 448 (D-Rouse), two bills that would have commercialized high potency THC products, including recreational marijuana. These bills would have allowed for a “pot shop” on every street corner, which would have serious consequences on our community and lead countless youth down the dangerous path of drug abuse!
Governor Youngkin included as part of his reasons for vetoing the bills the following:
“Intentional youth cannabis use has also increased in states and localities with legal retail markets…Data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration show that the five states with the highest youth marijuana use are also all states with legal retail cannabis. Cannabis commercialization and diminished cannabis enforcement have resulted in youth cannabis use increasing by 245% between 2000 and 2022, contrasting with declines in teen alcohol and tobacco use.”
“States that have attempted to regulate the black-market for cannabis have generally failed. Colorado is touted as a successful example of legalization, but a decade after legalization, the illicit cannabis market still accounts for approximately 35% of all cannabis sales. Similarly, six years after legalization, California's legal cannabis market represented only about 10% of total cannabis sales. With the black-market’s persistent pressure, gang activity escalates and violent crime surges.”
We are grateful the Governor stood firm in not allowing Virginia to turn into California and Colorado, which despite a regulated retail market, has experienced rising adolescent drug abuse, a growing black-market, and surges in violent crime.
In the same way that Governor Youngkin defended our communities from the giant cannabis business, we are urging him to also veto SB 212 (D-Rouse) which would allow potentially 100,000 so-called “games of skill” (a.k.a., neighborhood slot machines) in convenience stores, restaurants, truck stops, and other establishments, where families visit daily, with virtually no oversight.
These bills are presented as the “Virginia Small Business Economic Development Act,” but these neighborhood slot machines are anything but economic development. All they do is line the pockets of the corporations who make the games that target problem gamblers, desensitize youth to the addictive habits of gambling, and attract more crime to our neighborhoods.
