ICYMI: Governor Glenn Youngkin has used his veto power to protect Virginians from damaging policies passed by far-left Democrats who barely control the General Assembly.
Most recently, Youngkin vetoed legislation that would have taken Virginia down the path of states like Colorado, Illinois, and Washington that have created retail markets for highly potent cannabis.
“Cannabis is bad for Virginia,” Youngkin said in vetoing the retail weed bills. “States that have a legalized retail market have seen a massive increase in child poisonings, they’ve seen a massive increase in adolescence usage, and they’ve seen huge escalations in violent crime and gang activity.”
Gov. @GlennYoungkin describes the unsafe nature of marijuana and how allowing a retail marijuana marketplace would put the health of Virginians in danger:
“The potency of cannabis today is dangerous. It drives mental health challenges and mental health sickness to the point of… pic.twitter.com/bjG2HVret4
— Team Youngkin – Spirit of Virginia (@TeamYoungkin) March 28, 2024
Youngkin’s action to protect Virginians is receiving praise from those who correctly recognize the danger retail marijuana markets pose to states that have legalized it.
As the Washington Examiner notes in an editorial, “Credit Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) not just for vetoing a bill last week that would have created a retail marijuana market but also for issuing a comprehensive, fact-filled explanation of why the dope craze is dreadful… The statistics are strikingly bleak. As state after state has legalized cannabis and established retail markets for the drug, reports to Poison Control of children’s overdoses have jumped 400%. And “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,” as the incidence of uncontrollable substance-abuse disorders also has risen accordingly.”
Governor Youngkin will continue to defend Virginians from the backward policies of far-left progressives in the General Assembly, using his veto power to protect the Commonwealth and the progress made over the past two years to make Virginia the best place to live, work and raise a family.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Editorial – Youngkin keeps Virginia from going to pot
Credit Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) not just for vetoing a bill last week that would have created a retail marijuana market but also for issuing a comprehensive, fact-filled explanation of why the dope craze is dreadful.
Youngkin’s summary sentences alone encapsulate the plethora of anti-legalization arguments this publication has made for years. Retail marijuana legalization, he wrote, “endangers Virginians’ health and safety. States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far exceed tax revenue. It also does not eliminate the illegal black market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety.”
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The governor could also have mentioned many other bad health effects of marijuana, as the Drug Enforcement Administration has blamed it for “serious health problems such as bronchitis, emphysema, and bronchial asthma [and] suppression of the immune system.”
Youngkin also shot down another main contention of pro-marijuana activists, namely their claim that legal retail markets deter or eliminate black markets and organized crime connected to the cannabis trade. “Six years after legalization, California’s legal cannabis market represented only about 10% of total cannabis sales,” Youngkin wrote. “With the black-market’s persistent pressure, gang activity escalates and violent crime surges.” This proved true, for example, in Oregon, where the state saw significant hikes, compared to states that hadn’t legalized marijuana, in property crime, aggravated assault, and violent crime in general.
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In sum, marijuana is a far more dangerous substance than popular lore pretends it is, and legalization leads to more use and more abuse of it. Making official the “recreational retail markets” of the kind envisioned by Virginia’s House Bill 698 and Senate Bill 448 would exacerbate those problems. Not only is Youngkin wise to veto the bill but lawmakers in other states ought to follow his lead.
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