A marijuana industry group sent letters to seven governors in the Northeast on Thursday, imploring them to push for cannabis legalization to aid in economic recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The National Association of Cannabis Businesses (NACB) said a regionally coordinated legalization strategy would help generate much-needed tax revenue from legal marijuana sales.
The market for oils, capsules, body lotions, and other products containing cannabidiol, better known as CBD derived from hemp, has been rapidly growing. But there’s room for further expansion with ingestibles. What the industry needs is for the FDA to take action and classify CBD as a food additive or supplement enabling it to be included in food, beverages and supplements.
In New Jersey for instance, racial disparities in marijuana arrests in 2018 got worse. According to the report, marijuana arrests for Black people in New Jersey are 3.45 times higher than White people, climbing slightly from the ACLU’s findings in 2010, when Black people were about three times as likely to be arrested for marijuana.
At the start of 2020, more than a dozen states seemed very likely to legalize marijuana for recreational or medical purposes by the end of the year. Now that a coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed just about every aspect of American life, it seems only a handful of states will be able to enact marijuana reform.
At the start of 2020 (a little over 90 days ago), the cannabis industry anticipated that this would be the year for major cannabis reform at the state level. Many states, including New York, New Jersey, Idaho, and Arkansas, had expressed great interest in clarifying and expanding cannabis legislation. And, as recent as January 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo expressed his desire that New York's executive budget for 2021 include tax income that could be anticipated if the state allowed and taxed recreational cannabis.
Most state governments around the nation have deemed medical marijuana companies “essential” during the coronavirus pandemic, meaning the vast majority can keep doing business after residents were told to stay at home and many businesses were ordered to scale back or close their operations.
But the picture is murkier for recreational cannabis companies.
For the first time ever, cannabis will be the theme of some exhibits at the prestigious Philadelphia Flower Show, which opens this weekend at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Three of the show’s exhibits will feature cannabis, although no cannabis plants or products will be on display.
The Philadelphia Flower Show is the nation’s largest and longest-running horticultural event, begun in 1829 by the Philadelphia Horticultural Society. Held annually, the show features displays by the world’s leading floral and landscape designers.
Today, talk of legalization knows no bounds. Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have reportedly flirted with the idea of forming a "bloc" that will legalize adult-use marijuana at the same time and by imposing the same statutory scheme. Activists are pushing measures to put legalization on the ballot in 2020 in Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, and Oklahoma.
When it comes to state legalization – whether it’s medical or adult-use – there is either effort on the legislative front or at the ballot box (or in cases like New Jersey, the battle moves from one arena to the other).
A number of states aim to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2020
However, this hasn't stopped individual states from legalizing cannabis in some capacity over the past 23 years. Beginning with California in 1996, a grand total of 33 states have legalized medical marijuana. Of these 33 states, 11 have passed legislation allowing for the legal consumption and/or sale of recreational weed. And this could be just the beginning.