We are calling on you, Governor Scott, to veto S.54! I write to you in support of the growing coalition of local nonprofits and advocates fighting to end prohibition and form a just and equitable cannabis policy in Vermont. While Vermont will not be the first state to establish a tax and regulate system, we do have the opportunity to demonstrate to the nation how cannabis policy can not only bring in revenue, but do so in a way that repairs past harms, prioritizes equitable market access, supports existing farms and Vermont-owned businesses, and bolsters our rural economies and communities. The devastation inflicted by the War on Drugs, and the criminalization of cannabis, has disproportionately focused on communities of color, including here in Vermont. Its impacts have shattered the lives of individuals, families, and communities for generations and across generations. These impacts are long-lasting, complex, and both explicit and implicit including mental and physical health, socio-economic opportunity and positionality, incarceration, police and criminal justice system violence, housing, education, and more. The War on Drugs also must be acknowledged as only one of many tools of systemic racism employed amidst the broader history and impacts of institutional racism and xenophobia which has resulted in the dramatic disparities of business ownership, land access and ownership, access to capital, and more that are present in our communities today. The decriminalization of cannabis, and the establishment of legal markets in various States, has thus far resulted in few if any outcomes that begin to address and redress this history. Instead, it has resulted in the furthering of systemic white supremacy, racism, and economic inequity in the cannabis industry. The legal cannabis market is estimated to become a $40 billion industry by the end of 2020, yet Black-owned cannabis businesses only represent 4.3% of total market share. S.54 is a continuation of that policy which we find unacceptable for Vermont. Rushing to pass this policy with laser focus on its economic benefit to those who hold political and economic power represents an unwillingness to reconcile with prior exploitations and makes you complicit with the continued perpetuation of economic oppression of Black and other people of color in Vermont. As you can see, bill S.54 is widely unpopular in Vermont and the following local organizations and businesses come together in opposition to S.54, and in a shared commitment to creating cannabis policy for Vermont that is truly equitable, just and inclusive. Justice for All Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) Rural Vermont Trace Vermont Growers Association Vermont Racial Justice Alliance A Drop of Joy, LLC Ardelia Farm & Co. August First Bennington College Brattleboro Winter Farmers ' Market Bread & Butter Farm bSpoke Technology Butterworks Farm C-Trax Central Vermont Showing Up for Racial Justice Coombs Criddle Associates Crystal Ledge Farm Diggers Mirth Collective Farm Doolittle Farm Draft Trash Middlebury The Emerald Rose Evening Song Farm Farmrun Fragrant Mountain Farm Green & Gold CSA Half Wild Farm Jean Hamilton Consulting Karme Choling Latch Creative Company LLC Littlewood Farm Luna Bleu Farm MadFreedom Mender Medicinals Meristem Farms Mettawee Valley Hemp Migrant Justice NAACP Nurse Grown Organics Oak Hollow Farm One Love Origins of Food Painted Tulip LLC Post Oil Solutions Rebop Farm LLC Rights & Democracy Vermont (RADVT) River’s Bend Design LLC Robinson Hill Beef RopaNa Sherry's of Vermont, LLC Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) SoftBank Spring Hill Farm The Corse Farm Dairy Trenchers Farmhouse Ula Vermont Botanical Farm LLC Vermont Cannabis Nurses Association Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition Vermont Law School’s SBA’s State Relations Committee Vermont Racial Justice Alliance Vermont Releaf Collective Vermont Young Farmers Coalition Wild Carrot Farm Wilder Farm Wildstone Farm Wilson Herb Farm

We are calling on you, Governor Scott, to veto S.54! I write to you in support of the growing coalition of local nonprofits and advocates fighting to end prohibition and form a just and equitable cannabis policy in Vermont. While Vermont will not be the first state to establish a tax and regulate system, we do have the opportunity to demonstrate to the nation how cannabis policy can not only bring in revenue, but do so in a way that repairs past harms, prioritizes equitable market access, supports existing farms and Vermont-owned businesses, and bolsters our rural economies and communities. The devastation inflicted by the War on Drugs, and the criminalization of cannabis, has disproportionately focused on communities of color, including here in Vermont. Its impacts have shattered the lives of individuals, families, and communities for generations and across generations. These impacts are long-lasting, complex, and both explicit and implicit including mental and physical health, socio-economic opportunity and positionality, incarceration, police and criminal justice system violence, housing, education, and more. The War on Drugs also must be acknowledged as only one of many tools of systemic racism employed amidst the broader history and impacts of institutional racism and xenophobia which has resulted in the dramatic disparities of business ownership, land access and ownership, access to capital, and more that are present in our communities today. The decriminalization of cannabis, and the establishment of legal markets in various States, has thus far resulted in few if any outcomes that begin to address and redress this history. Instead, it has resulted in the furthering of systemic white supremacy, racism, and economic inequity in the cannabis industry. The legal cannabis market is estimated to become a $40 billion industry by the end of 2020, yet Black-owned cannabis businesses only represent 4.3% of total market share. S.54 is a continuation of that policy which we find unacceptable for Vermont. Rushing to pass this policy with laser focus on its economic benefit to those who hold political and economic power represents an unwillingness to reconcile with prior exploitations and makes you complicit with the continued perpetuation of economic oppression of Black and other people of color in Vermont. As you can see, bill S.54 is widely unpopular in Vermont and the following local organizations and businesses come together in opposition to S.54, and in a shared commitment to creating cannabis policy for Vermont that is truly equitable, just and inclusive. Justice for All Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) Rural Vermont Trace Vermont Growers Association Vermont Racial Justice Alliance A Drop of Joy, LLC Ardelia Farm & Co. August First Bennington College Brattleboro Winter Farmers ' Market Bread & Butter Farm bSpoke Technology Butterworks Farm C-Trax Central Vermont Showing Up for Racial Justice Coombs Criddle Associates Crystal Ledge Farm Diggers Mirth Collective Farm Doolittle Farm Draft Trash Middlebury The Emerald Rose Evening Song Farm Farmrun Fragrant Mountain Farm Green & Gold CSA Half Wild Farm Jean Hamilton Consulting Karme Choling Latch Creative Company LLC Littlewood Farm Luna Bleu Farm MadFreedom Mender Medicinals Meristem Farms Mettawee Valley Hemp Migrant Justice NAACP Nurse Grown Organics Oak Hollow Farm One Love Origins of Food Painted Tulip LLC Post Oil Solutions Rebop Farm LLC Rights & Democracy Vermont (RADVT) River’s Bend Design LLC Robinson Hill Beef RopaNa Sherry's of Vermont, LLC Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) SoftBank Spring Hill Farm The Corse Farm Dairy Trenchers Farmhouse Ula Vermont Botanical Farm LLC Vermont Cannabis Nurses Association Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition Vermont Law School’s SBA’s State Relations Committee Vermont Racial Justice Alliance Vermont Releaf Collective Vermont Young Farmers Coalition Wild Carrot Farm Wilder Farm Wildstone Farm Wilson Herb Farm