• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

JACKSON TESTIFIES ON CANNABIS BILLS AT STATE HOUSE

Written by DIG STAFF Posted April 24, 2017 Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS

Image via Tito Jackson Facebook (where you can view the whole testimony)

 

As readers of our nitty-gritty cannabis coverage are probably aware, the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy has held a public hearing every other week since March, admirably fielding hours upon hours of testimony, from opponents and advocates alike, on 90 or so bills. They may be an inadequate bunch with far more prohibitionist adversaries than should feasibly be tapped for such a panel, but at this point they’ve at least put serious work in.

 

With the final hearing this Monday before the cannabis committee members return to closed chambers to stitch together whatever resulting compromise bill(s) they see suitable, Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate Tito Jackson showed up on Beacon Hill to give his own impassioned testimony. Before a gallery of activists and lawmakers, the Roxbury pol tried to knock back some stigmas attached to cannabis.

 

“Not only should [convicted drug offenders] have an opportunity to work in this industry,” Jackson explained, praising the civil rights protections that are written into the current law. “They should have the opportunity to own [businesses].”

 

The councilor also said that lawmakers should act even further in the spirit of correcting wrongs perpetrated against communities of color, and suggested that committee members look to the example of Oakland, which has been working on an “equity permit program” that rewards convicted drug felons by putting them at the front of the line to receive medical pot industry permits.

 

“[The War on Drugs] has decimated communities across the state disproportionately,” he said. The position is a change for Jackson, who early on in his political career opposed the idea of a medical dispensary coming to Roxbury.

 

Now decidedly pro-legalization, the councilor added, “We should have the most progressive policies relative to making communities whole.” Or else only “the people who always win will end up winning again.”

DIG STAFF
+ posts

Dig Staff means this article was a collaborative effort. Teamwork, as we like to call it.

  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    Dig This: The First-Ever Beantown Beanfest
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    Dig This: Embrace Boston’s Second Annual Juneteenth Festival
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    Dig This: Night Shift Partners With Boston Proud For Pride Events
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    The Details: Red Bull Cliff Diving Returns To Boston Seaport

Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: Beacon Hill, cannabis, Commonwealth, Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy, legalization, Marijuana, Massachusetts, prohibitionists, question 4, State House, Tito Jackson

WHAT’S NEW

State Wire: Advocates Push For 'Tax Fairness' With Expanded Child Tax Credits

State Wire: Advocates Push For ‘Tax Fairness’ With Expanded Child Tax Credits

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Primary Sidebar

AAN Wire


Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com