La.: Legalization bill passes out of committee, heads to full House!

Ask your state lawmakers to support HB 524.

Great news! In a 6-5 vote, the Louisiana House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee voted to advance Rep. Richard Nelson’s bill to legalize and regulate marijuana for adults 21 and older. It now heads to the full House of Representatives!

This is the first time a legislative committee in Louisiana has voted to legalize marijuana.

Ask your state lawmakers to support this sensible measure.

Before the vote, Rep. Nelson amended his bill based on legal advice. It had initially included a voter-referral, but he was advised that Louisiana lawmakers cannot delegate this type of policy decision to voters.

Despite two-to-one popular support for legalization in Louisiana, the witnesses at committee were lopsided in opposition. Several members of law enforcement signed up in opposition and peddled misleading information — including falsely claiming teen marijuana use goes up after legalization.

In the face of powerful opposition, it is extremely important that state representatives hear that their constituents want them to end the disastrous war on marijuana.

Send your state legislators an email today and spread the word on social media. Let them know it’s past time Louisiana stop tearing apart families over cannabis, and that it instead should start creating good jobs and generating hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues to improve the wellbeing of the state’s residents.