Tassoni says cannabis profits should go to Prevention, Education, and Treatment
Where does the money from Rhode Island’s cannabis sales go?
President and CEO at The Leadership Council for Substance Abuse and Mental Health of Rhode Island, I would like to know.
So, members of the General Assembly, and Governor McKee, what’s the answer?
Before the bill to legalize marijuana sales passed, I inquired about having funds from the profits earmarked for substance use treatment, education, and prevention programs, so they would be used for greater good and help to thwart addiction and overdose.
This suggestion was met with a positive response from legislators, but I was told to table the idea until the bill passed. The bill passed almost three years ago, in May 2022. To play off of a line from the movie Jerry Maquire, “Show me the money?”
Cannabis, as sales indicate, has been quite a lucrative industry in the country and in the state. The U.S. cannabis industry is expected to earn close to $45 billion from legal, adult-use cannabis by the end of 2025.
In Rhode Island, cannabis retailers have recorded nearly around $20 million in sales so far this year, with more than 500,000 transactions processed.
You read that correctly, $20 million, and it is only March.
In 2024, Rhode Island reported 384 overdose deaths; 87,000 were reported nationally. With rising rates of anxiety-related illnesses, psychological and social disorders, and feelings of fear and panic that are ever- prevalent these days, are rising addictions and overdoses soon to follow?
It is clear that we are not doing enough to address this problem, especially with young people.
Our youth are a generation that were raised throughout the years of the COVID pandemic, where anxiety was all too commonplace. It has gotten worse. Fast forward a few years, where traditional and social media channels – real or fake – exacerbated political polarization that has significantly led to a country divided.
Add to all of this the breakdown of the nuclear family. The traditional, two-parent household has been replaced with other combinations of cohabitation. Gone are the days of the family gathering around the table for Sunday dinner, watching television together, or just talking. This growing complexity of family dynamics has also led to feelings of abandonment, loneliness, peer pressure, bullying and hopelessness.
All of these factors are the perfect storm for self-medicating and substance abuse that could pave the way for addiction and overdose.
We need advocates and policy makers on the ground running, supported by the funds and resources to help them to understand how substance use develops, the means for early intervention, and strategies to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental health disorders.
We need the profits from cannabis sales to help this serious cause.
Now not Tomorrow.
If we don’t do something now, we will be spending more on Medicaid and Medicare to treat more severe disorders as these young people grow and age.
Again, I ask the members of the General Assembly and Governor McKee what’s your answer? I NEED YOUR HELP!
John J. Tassoni, Jr.
President/CEO
Substance Use and Mental Health Leadership Council of Rhode Island