ROB MCFADDEN – VERMONT HOUSE, WINDSOR-RUTLAND DISTRICT

The Rand report published in 2015 lays out a very sensible and prosperity driven approach to a Tax and Regulate system. Every day that passes is opportunity lost. Vermont is poised to become the east coast leader in this emerging $47B/year industry. I am launching a district wide campaign for the Windsor-Rutland House seat and a statewide campaign to draw support from the masses to break down all barriers to the cannabis and hemp industries in Vermont and incentivize the industry and peripheral businesses to locate in Vermont with Vermonters leading the way.

This will deliver immediate prosperity to the state, while supporting the things we do best…Tourism, Agriculture, Craft Consumables, Co-operative agriculture, all while creating low entry cost entrepreneurial opportunities for the citizens of our state. The 2019 legislative session will be critical for making the most of the opportunity that ripe and ready for Vermont to seize.

How would you assess Vermont’s current medical marijuana program? How will you ensure that registered medical patients and caregivers have access to an abundance of high-quality cannabis products priced at or below market rates?

I don’t love the current medical marijuana program. I was diagnosed with MS when I was 31. It was nothing but a hassle to have a Dr. sponsor you to get the medical card. I was also concerned about being on a government list and what that may mean for my gun rights, among other things. There is presently a robust black market in the state.

My choice, like many others, was to continue in the black market. While a medical marijuana program with quality control would be preferable, the current system has too many barriers to be considered functional for me. There are many ways to see that recreational and medical applications can be distributed properly.

How will you ensure that people who’ve been disproportionately affected by prohibition (such as convicts and People Of Color) will have an equal opportunity to participate in Vermont’s legal cannabis industry? In particular, how will you work for statewide expungement of convictions for possession?

Expungement has already begun in Vermont and I would like to see us lead by example and be a model for all other states. The injustice delivered to POC by our government is one of the drivers for my campaign. Can you imagine a mother of three living in subsidized housing in Detroit, with the father being in prison for cannabis related charges, seeing an advertisement for cannabis yoga classes with beautiful smiling white women in their workout clothes? The injustice is staggering.

If tax-and-regulate is passed, how would you prefer to allocate cannabis revenues? To the general fund or to specific causes? If specific, please share any proposals.

I would like to see 40% to the general fund and 60% to specific causes that were determined by the industry customers.

Would you allow Vermont towns to enact temporary moratoriums or outright bans on legal cannabis businesses?

Absolutely not. We need to learn from those that have gone before us. Massachusetts is experiencing this right now and their opportunity continues to become less valuable by the day. We need to activate all supporters to educate leaders in each town. My campaign intends to accomplish this in short order. There is a mass exodus of Vermont’s youth from this state. Opportunity created by this industry will not only stop, but reverse this exodus. A rising tide raises all ships.