Legalization of marijuana is inevitable, and doing it now will help Kentucky be a national leader on an issue whose time has come. Republicans and Democrats across the country agree: legalization helps improve health care, the economy, and advances social justice.
WHY LEGALIZE
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
BENEFITS
Studies have shown that medical marijuana benefits people with illnesses ranging from cancer to anxiety, PTSD to Parkinson’s, seizures to diabetes. The National Cancer Institute recently confirmed that marijuana in fact kills cancer cells while protecting normal cells. With addictive pain medicine leading to heroin and other narcotics ravaging families across Kentucky, legalizing marijuana will help ease pain, discomfort and side effects from illnesses that affect nearly every family in Kentucky.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF
MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
The economic benefits are clear: increased tax revenue to the state, decreased cost of criminalization, creation of new jobs, increased tourism, and more. Hundreds of millions of dollars either made or saved from legalizing marijuana could be used to increase school budgets, build roads, fund pensions and more – without raising or creating new taxes for our citizens. We can’t afford not to legalize Kentucky now.
SOCIAL JUSTICE BENEFITS OF
MARIJUANA DECRIMANLIZATION
Criminalization of marijuana disproportionately harms one segment of society: African-Americans. African-Americans are almost 600% more likely to get in trouble for marijuana possession than white people. This has consequences far beyond criminal enforcement. Jobs, education and other opportunities for African-Americans are harmed by criminalization and unfair application of drug laws. Marijuana decriminalization is a concrete, real step we can take to improve social justice in Kentucky.
IT'S TIME TO
LEGALIZE KENTUCKY NOW
In short, the time has come. Kentucky can be a national leader on an issue that will improve the lives of Kentuckians, whether they choose to use marijuana or not. Just like everyone benefits from the regulation, safe distribution, taxes and laws about alcohol or cigarettes, everyone in Kentucky will benefit from the legal sales and decriminalization of marijuana.
LATEST NEWS
Election Follow-Up and Volunteers Needed
Things are moving fast around the county and Kentucky needs to catch up. I’ve provided some updates on the changes in marijuana laws made in the November 8th election and, more importantly, what we need to do in Kentucky. The legislative session begins January 3 in Frankfort and we need to make our voices heard. You will be amazed…
We Need to Educate Our Lawmakers
While we were not able to get a bill passed this session, we made a lot of behind-the-scenes progress that will lay the groundwork for a successful effort next session! The keys to victory are twofold: education and voters contacting their legislators. To help advance the first piece, education, we are co-hosting the Southern Cannabis…
Nichole Nimmo Shares Her Cannabis Story
Watch Kentucky citizen Nichole Nimmo share her personal story. She discusses how marijuana helped her get off numerous pain pills after battling cancer and severe arthritis. Nichole also discusses how she believes our marijuana laws are outdated and punish those who should not be punished. Thank you, Nichole!! You have bravely shared your story and are…
NEWS! We have a Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Senator Morgan McGarvey has introduced a medical cannabis bill (SB 304) that allows medical cannabis for hospice and end of life patients. This bill has a lot of support from both parties, but we need to make sure this important bill gets a chance for an actual vote. To do that, we need you…
Donation Over $25 Gets Free Shirt
UPDATE: SHIRTS SOLD OUT — We have new Legalize Kentucky Now t-shirts! We only printed up a limited number and each have text reading “First Run Limited Edition.” The first 100 people to donate $25 or more to our cause from now until the end of March will get a t-shirt. When you donate, just write…
Writing Your Representative
We have had a few people ask us for a template when writing your representatives in Frankfort. we think that any way you contact them and let them know your opinion s great. If you need a little help finding the words, we have some suggestions. We think there are two ways to go about writing…
News: We Hired a Lobbyist!
Legalize Kentucky Now has hired a lobbyist to help our efforts in Frankfort. Below is a statement from Mike Ward, our CEO: “We are excited to announce that we have retained Jason Underwood of Capitol Strategies to help us educate and advocate for this important cause in Frankfort during this session. Jason’s strategic and tactical…
Free Cannabis Health Summit
There is an free online Cannabis Health Summit hosted by Green Flower taking place January 23-24. We encourage everyone who is interested to sign up here. They will have experts in the field talking about the science of Cannabis and how it interacts with our bodies. It will be very educational and help dispel many…
Minnesota recognizes value of medical marijuana for pain management
At times, understanding the status of marijuana across the country is daunting. With so many different levels of legalization, we’re left asking, “can’t we all just agree?” This month, officials in Minnesota brought us one step closer to consensus about which medical conditions should be treated with medical marijuana. The state has joined many others…
Not all medical marijuana programs are created equal
Although “legalize marijuana” is a concise slogan that accurately conveys the sentiment of sensible supporters everywhere, the reality isn’t quite so straightforward. As much as we might like it to be, marijuana is far from an “all or nothing” deal. Between recreational use, medical marijuana, and decriminalization, there are many different options for forward progress….