Biden’s Commerce Secretary Pick Wants Marijuana Sold In Government-Run Stores

This… according to a report in Marijuana Moment yesterday.

After all the various state regulatory programs setting up a licensing environment for private business here at CLR we can’t think of anything that might enrage the industry more !

Either this idea will be canned quietly and quickly or we are about to see 20+ years of lawsuits around the country.

MM write

President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to run the U.S. Department of Commerce is a governor who supports not only legalizing marijuana but selling it through government-run stores.

Biden announced on Friday that Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) is getting the nod for Commerce secretary, a cabinet position where, if confirmed by the Senate, she will be responsible for representing business community interests and promoting economic growth. And while the incoming president might not be in favor of legalization himself, his nominee to lead the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has come to embrace the policy change, with a unique twist.

In a budget proposal last year, Raimondo called for a state-run regulatory model for cannabis—rather than allowing sales through a privatized commercial market as is the case in all other states that have legalized to date. Having the government control the industry would “allow the state to control distribution, prevent youth consumption, and protect public health,” her proposal to lawmakers said.

The governor wasn’t always in favor of comprehensive reform, but the spread of the legalization movement regionally in other Northeast states led to her accept the policy change as an inevitability that should be thoughtfully implemented. Her budget plan for cannabis was not adopted by the legislature, however.

In November 2019, Raimondo described legalization as  “the next logical step” after the growth of the state’s medical cannabis program. That came after she partnered with nearby states’ governors to develop a regional approach to legalizing cannabis. That year she also included legal cannabis in her budget, but that initial plan did not include the state-run approach that she has come to favor.

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Biden’s Commerce Secretary Pick Wants Marijuana Sold In Government-Run Stores

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