Tag: united states

Cannabis first became prohibited at the federal level in the United States in 1937. Complete prohibition was in place in the U.S. in all states until 1996 when California became the first state to legalize cannabis for medical use.

Since that time, every state except two (Idaho and Nebraska) have legalized cannabis for medical use, and an ever-growing list of states have legalized cannabis for adult use. Cannabis is also completely legal in Washington D.C.

Now, over 40% of U.S. residents live in a state/district where cannabis is completely legal. However, cannabis still remains illegal at the federal level.

A recent poll by CBS found that a majority of U.S. residents want their states to legalize cannabis for adult use, as outlined in a news release by our friends at NORML which can be found below:

The majority of US adults support legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in their states, according to nationwide polling data compiled by CBS News.

Fifty-five percent of respondents say that they want to see legalization in their home states. Among those already residing in legal states, 60 percent said that they favor the policy change.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents also favor expunging the criminal records of those with past marijuana convictions.

Few of those polled acknowledged being regular consumers of cannabis, and this decision appeared to be largely unaffected by the plant’s legal status. Seven percent of respondents residing in legal states reporting using cannabis versus five percent of those surveyed in jurisdictions where its recreational use remains illegal.

The CBS poll is the latest in a series of recent national polls showing that most Americans believe that the possession and use of marijuana by adults should be legally permitted.

Cannabis prohibition is one of the worst public policies in human history. It goes well beyond the negative impact that is experienced by the person subjected to an initial prohibition-based penalty. The negative impact lingers well after the person has paid their fine and/or served their jail sentence.

They have to carry the ‘cannabis scarlet letter’ for years into the future in many cases, and for some people, the designation of being a ‘cannabis criminal’ is something that they have to deal with forever. The designation ruins the person’s life by preventing them from getting jobs, housing, and can even prevent them from obtaining volunteer positions in the future. 

It’s like an anchor that keeps them from moving on with their lives, and it’s happened to countless people for many decades, which is beyond unfortunate. Yes, people can get the cannabis offense expunged from their record, however, it only happens after a judge approves the request (which they do not have to do) and the individual has paid a substantial sum of money. 

For many folks convicted of a cannabis offense obtaining an expungement is simply not an option. The financial hurdle is too great, and they often decide to just endure the negative fallout from having a cannabis conviction on their record because there’s no other viable option to do otherwise. It’s one of many reasons why cannabis prohibition needs to end immediately across the United States to ensure that no further harm is needlessly inflicted on cannabis consumers, many of which being patients who rely on medical cannabis.

Reform Continues To Spread At The State Level

The United States is in the midst of a cannabis policy reform revolution at the local level, with 18 states and Washington D.C. having passed adult-use cannabis legalization measures either at the ballot box or via legislative action since 2012. Regulation is clearly better than prohibition, with state-level cannabis legalization succeeding by virtually every measure. 

Despite all of those victories, the harms of cannabis prohibition still linger in too many states as well as at the federal level in the U.S. Federal cannabis prohibition is becoming less tenable with every passing year. Just this year alone three states have passed legalization measures – Virginia, New York, and New Mexico. Obviously, the year is only roughly 1/3rd of the way over, and it’s quite possible that more states could legalize cannabis for adult use in the coming months. Unfortunately, which side of a state border you live on still determines your fate if/when you are caught with cannabis, and that makes no sense.

As it stands right now, well over 40% of people in the United States live in a state which has legalized cannabis for adult use. All except two states (Nebraska and Idaho) have passed some type of medical cannabis measure, ranging from CBD-only legislation to comprehensive medical cannabis reform. When it comes to cannabis policy in the United States, geography means everything because of federal prohibition. When will that change and every adult in the United States be allowed to possess a personal amount of cannabis?

Executive Action Or Congress?

When it comes to ending federal cannabis prohibition in the United States, there are two avenues that can be pursued. The first is via executive action, with President Joe Biden hypothetically taking it upon himself to initiate a bureaucratic process to get cannabis removed from the Controlled Substances list. The Biden Administration has made it clear that this is not a priority, so no one should hold their breath waiting for executive action.

The second avenue for achieving an end to federal cannabis prohibition is via Congress. If there was enough political will in Congress to pass a legalization bill, that’s all it would take to end federal cannabis legalization. It’s a far-more straight path to legalization compared to executive action. Unfortunately, it’s yet to happen for some reason, even though support for national cannabis legalization is greater now than at any other time in United States history.

With that being said, recent comments made by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are encouraging. “I want to make my arguments to him, as many other advocates will,” Schumer stated in a recent interview with POLITICO regarding President Biden. “But at some point we’re going to move forward, period.”

Senator Schumer seems to recognize the obvious fact that cannabis policy reform is an extremely popular political issue, which is something that appears to be lost on the Biden administration for reasons unknown. In addition to being the right thing to do, pushing for cannabis legalization is also politically viable, and one would think that federal politicians would push hard for legalization, if for any reason to help boost their chances of staying in office. 

As of right now, federal legalization appears closer than it has since prohibition was first enacted in 1937, yet there’s no clear date for when it will finally happen. A significant amount of positive comments are being thrown around by federal politicians, however, actions speak louder than words. While we continue to wait for Congress to get their act together make sure to contact your federal officials and urge them to support sensible cannabis laws. Do your part!

To say that the United States is divided when it comes to politics is a massive understatement. One could easily argue that the political climate in the U.S is more polarized than it has been in well over 100 years.

However, at a time when most U.S. voters do not seem to agree on almost anything, there is one issue that has support from all over the political spectrum, and that support continues to increase with every passing year.

That political issue is cannabis legalization. Support for cannabis legalization is at an all-time high in the United States, no pun intended, and that is reflected in the results of a new poll. Below is a news release about it from our friends at NORML:

Majorities of Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters endorse legalizing the use of marijuana for adults and this support is growing, according to polling data compiled by the firms FM3 Research and Fabrizio, Lee & Associates and first reported by MarijuanaMoment.net.

Pollsters surveyed voters in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota. A majority of voters in each of the four states decided in favor of adult-use legalization ballot measures on Election Day.

Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed – including 85 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of Independents, and 53 percent of Republicans – support legalizing marijuana. That finding is consistent with other nationwide polls.

More than one-quarter of respondents (27 percent) – including 33 percent of Democrats, 35 percent of Independents, and 23 percent of Republicans – said that their views have become more favorable toward legalization in recent years. Sixty-five percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “Legalizing adult use of marijuana is a non-partisan issue that both liberal and conservative voters can get behind.”

Eighty-one percent of respondents agreed that the federal government should not interfere with state laws legalizing marijuana use.

Pollsters concluded: “The results carry important insights, especially for Republican elected officials” who often “cast cannabis legalization as a partisan wedge issue.” This position, pollsters acknowledged, is growing “increasingly untenable” with Republican voters.

If there is one thing most Americans can celebrate together across party lines about the turbulent events of last week, it is that cannabis reform moved forward, and significantly in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Four more states moved into the recreational camp, with a total of five in sum passing cannabis reform over all. Several of those markets, notably, New Jersey and North Dakota, are designed to fast-forward recreational market implementation.

Indeed, this was good news in a more global climate where recreational reform has very much been put on (tempered) time release by just about everyone else also concurrently considering the question.

It also speaks volumes to the obvious and glaring reality that reformers still have to face: Namely, that in the highest ranks of the governing world – from the U.S. to Germany and New Zealand beyond that – the idea of recreational reform is on a delayed if far from back burner.

That said, it is also clear that the idea of medical reform is on the front of several national policy agendas, one way or the other. Namely, from North Dakota to New Zealand, the average voter believes that cannabis has impactful even if not yet (shamefully) scientifically proven efficacy. Even if they are not ready for recreational reform.

For this reason, it is also unlikely that the WHO will delay (again) another vote on reclassification – although where exactly this will end up at this point is anyone’s guess. Most people believe that cannabinoid-based drugs (at minimum) will end up with Schedule II global designation (rather than say a more reasonable Schedule III). Certainly those with THC in them. Even if, in a last-minute nod to the holdouts, the raw plant ends up stuck in Schedule I, of any international treaty.

A Call For Federal Reform?

It is absolutely clear that one of the many negotiations that the new Biden-Harris team will engage in is the issue of federal reform. At this point, everyone who has been around the American discussion for decades knows that this, like many of the past Democratic Party platform positions on the same, was established in the name of “moderation for the election.” Even though, at this point, it is not likely to hold for long, even if it fits the character of those just elected.

Joe Biden has a rather unfortunate history with drug reform issues, at least legislatively, although the official platform is now set to change the basic bar on decriminalization. Kamala Harris as a prosecutor and politician in a state that has been medical friendly most of her career is also not exactly the best recreational advocate. Thus the so-far “moderate” position of the incoming
administration that nobody believes will last for long.

With four years of tempestuous negotiations already on the docket, no matter who wins the American Senate in the January runoffs in Georgia, it is also just as clear that national reform will absolutely be on the agenda at least by the midterms (in 2022) if not the next general election in four years.

This in turn, will continue to drive the conversation elsewhere, starting with Europe.

It is also clear that the rest of the world is avidly watching not Canada, but in fact the U.S. And that at least for now, in turn, federal decision-makers in the U.S. are waiting for the signoff of the WHO – an organization America will now be re-joining – before going any further. Even then, it is likely that, much like alcohol, marijuana reform will be a state-based rather than a federal decision for (at least) the first half of the new Administration’s term.

Be sure to stay abreast of developments. The International Cannabis Business Conference intends to return to Europe in 2021.

Today is Election Day in the United States where voter turnout is expected to be extremely strong. Presidential elections in the United States almost always have a higher voter turnout rate compared to midterm and special elections, however, this year’s enthusiasm for voting is through the roof.

At the time of the posting of this article voters across the United States are heading to the polls to cast their vote, with over 102 million voters having already voted early, either in person or by mail.

Voters in five U.S. states will see cannabis initiatives on their ballots. In Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota voters will decide on adult-use cannabis legalization measures.

In South Dakota and Mississippi, voters will decide on medical cannabis legalization initiatives. South Dakota is the first state to see both adult-use and medical legalization measures on the same ballot.

Whereas candidate races may take some time to determine a winner for various reasons, not the least of which is mail-in vote-counting provisions in states like Pennsylvania, the legalization measures in the previously listed states should be decided fairly quickly unless the vote totals are really, really close.

Polling leading up to Election Day has been favorable for all of the initiatives, which is a sign of the times. In a political environment that is often hostile and contentious, cannabis reform is something that a vast majority of U.S. residents can agree on.

Below is a summary of polling leading up to Election Day, via our friends at NORML:

• Arizona – roughly 60% support for adult-use legalization
• Montana – adult-use legalization is ahead 49-39%
• New Jersey – over 60% support for adult-use legalization
• South Dakota – 74% in favor of medical legalization and 51% for adult-use legalization
• Mississippi – 52% support for medical legalization

Keep in mind with the numbers listed above, there were quite a few undecided voters that did not choose either way, so the support for the measures could likely be considerably higher (no pun intended) since presumably some of those voters will ultimately vote for the measure(s) that they see on their ballots.

Cannabis policy in the United States has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last couple of decades. Non-hemp cannabis is still very much illegal at the federal level in the U.S., however, many states have reformed their cannabis laws, including a growing list of states that have legalized cannabis for adult use.

Support has never been greater for national cannabis legalization in the U.S. with the most recent Gallup poll (October 2019) finding that 66% of U.S. voters support adult-use legalization. That is up from 44% in 2010. The times are changing, and they are changing fast.

The 2020 Election in the United States is quickly approaching, and a number of states are likely to vote on adult-use and/or medical cannabis legalization. Below is a recap, taken from an outstanding summary published by our friends at Leafly:

• *Arizona (adult-use)
• *Montana (adult-use)
• Mississippi (medical)
• *Nebraska (medical)
• New Jersey (adult-use)
• South Dakota (medical and adult-use)

The states that have an asterisk by them have seen campaigns turn in enough signatures to make the ballot, however, final verification by state officials is still pending, so in theory, the measures could not actually make the ballot if enough signatures prove to be invalid. Hopefully, all of them will make the ballot.

Regardless, reform is already going to be on the ballot in at least Mississippi, New Jersey, and South Dakota, which is significant. Also, elected officials will be up for re-election in every state, and fresh faces are trying to become elected in November, and every one of them presumably has some stance on cannabis policy for better or worse.

Cannabis policy is a serious topic now in U.S. politics, and the years of expressing support for cannabis reform being considered ‘political suicide’ are long gone. Now, if a candidate is not on the right side of history, they receive significant push back because cannabis is such a popular and mainstream political issue. It can literally make the difference between someone being elected or not.

Studies have found that when cannabis reform is on the ballot it increases voter turnout because voters that normally don’t participate do so in order to vote for cannabis, and that has a butterfly effect on the rest of the election in the jurisdiction.

If cannabis reform actually makes the ballot in every state listed above and voter turnout spikes, it could have a significant impact on local, state, and even federal elections. Even in states where reform isn’t specifically on the ballot, cannabis voters will still have a significant impact on elections via their support of pro-cannabis candidates over anti-cannabis candidates. The cannabis community is a huge voting block now, thankfully.

The 2020 Election is arguably the most significant election in United States history, and all eyes will be on the results in November. All we can do is wait and watch as things develop and see how the dust settles, but it’s a safe bet that cannabis voters are going to heavily influence voting outcomes across the country.