Rep. Candace Newell (D) New Orleans
Among the bills pre-filed for the upcoming legislative session, is New Orleans Representative Candice Newell’s effort to lay the groundwork for 10 cannabis production facilities to operate in Louisiana. Currently, only two are allowed to grow in the state and they supply medicinal cannabis.
“Once recreational marijuana is made legal on a state level or it is made legal on a federal level, we won’t have to play catchup,” said Newell.
House Bill 125 bill authorizes the State Department of Agriculture and Forestry to issue licenses and a portion of those fees go towards background checks on operators and supervision. If the bill passes Newell said she will add a tax component in the next session and earmark where those funds would be dedicated.
“Because I do want it to go into funding our sheriffs and police departments as well as early childhood education,” said Newell.
Newell said during the pandemic when so many staples to the state’s economy, like hospitality, and the oil and gas industry, were halted other states who have legalized cannabis were still able to collect revenue from the industry.
“So that we can collect those funds as soon as the industry is legalized. You can’t keep taxing our citizens when we have industry that is available to implement care in the state,” said Newell.
The bill also requires licensees to have ownership that is at least 51-percent Louisiana residents.
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