Friday, June 18 top stories
Hello, it is Friday, June 18. I am taking Alex’s place this week. Ready for today’s top news?
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Two states recently made moves to relax restrictions against marijuana.
Connecticut’s legislature voted to approve recreational cannabis yesterday. Gov. Ned Lamont said he would sign the bill. Sales are expected to begin May 2022.
Gov. Lamont said the war on cannabis was “at its core a war on people in Black and Brown communities.”
The new law will expunge certain cannabis criminal convictions and aim to prioritize marijuana business licenses to applicants who live in lower-income areas who have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
In Louisiana, a bill to decriminalize marijuana was signed in law on Tuesday. This means that it is still a crime to have possession of marijuana, but the penalty will be less than most speeding tickets. The Louisiana governor said the state shouldn’t put people behind bars for what is legal in many states and ruin lives and destroy families and cost taxpayers.
Marijuana is still illegal on the federal level. Many are looking at the Biden administration to lead an effort to make it legal nationwide.
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In North Carolina, a group of nine people who were tubing on the Dan River found themselves in a disaster when they approached a steep dam. Five of the tubers went over the dam — three have died and two are missing. The other four tubers were able to hang on to various items on the dam and were rescued.
Rescuers said they are still looking for the two missing people. The river is popular with tubers, but they are discouraged from tubing near the dam because it is a steep drop.
Dams can be very dangerous because the force of the water spilling over into the lower body of water can create a suction effect that keeps people underwater.
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Texas can carry handguns without a license or training starting September 1 after Gov. Greg Abbott signs the permitless carry bill into law.
Before the permitless carry law was signed, Texans generally needed to be licensed to carry handguns openly or concealed. Applicants had to submit fingerprints, complete four to six hours of training and pass a written exam and a shooting proficiency test.
A solid majority of Texas voters don't think permitless carry should be allowed, according to an April University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.
"Politicians from the federal level to the local level have threatened to take guns from law-abiding citizens — but we will not let that happen in Texas," said Governor Abbott.
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President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law Thursday, officially making June 19 a federal holiday and giving national recognition to a day commemorating emancipation.
Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865, when a Union Army general arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended. And that they were free two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. They were intentionally kept from their freedom.
Biden said the Juneteenth holiday doesn’t just celebrate the past, it calls for action today. Vice President Kamala Harris urged people to be clear-eyed about the realities of slavery and the long fight for freedom.
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That is all the top stories for today. Have a wonderful and safe weekend. Stay with the light!
https://news.yahoo.com/connecticut-passes-recreational-marijuana-bill-182844045.html
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/16/texas-constitutional-carry-greg-abbott/
https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-signs-second-amendment-legislation-into-law-2021