U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Unveils Revised Marijuana Legalization Bill

The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) unveiled a revised marijuana legalization bill on Wednesday, making a series of changes to previously introduced legislation and transmitting it to the Senate for consideration. Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. (D), who pushed for legalization as part of his State of the Territory address in January and previously called lawmakers into a special session to take up the issue, said in a letter to Senate President Novelle Francis Jr. (D) that the revisions to the bill were the product of “listening discussions with multiple senators and the general public.” As in the past, Bryan emphasized that tax revenue from legal cannabis sales would create much-needed funding for the territory’s retirement system for government employees. It would also offset economic losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, the governor argued. “Consideration of this proposed bill is exigent given that the principal benefit of the revenues derived from this bill are directed to assisting the stoppage of the hemorrhaging of the Government Employees Retirement System,” he said. “I once again state that this bill will not solve the GERS financial status; rather, it is one of the tools and we must continue to work together to find other means to shore up the system.” “It is also important that we utilize the present time while we are putting our economy back together in readiness for the post-COVID pandemic environment, to put this revenue mechanism in place,” he continued. After Bryan first proposed the policy change and directed the…

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Source : MJ moment
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