Republican lawmakers aren't with the public on marijuana
Take a look at the three polls released on the topic in 2021:
Take a look at the three polls released on the topic in 2021:
When Arizonans voted to legalize recreational cannabis in November, it seemed plausible that sales would begin sometime in the spring.
But on Jan. 22, less than three months after the vote, the Arizona Department of Health Services started quickly approving applications, allowing dispensaries to sell cannabis to adults 21 and older immediately.
So even as we make progress, I still can’t bring myself to rejoice yet. In the days after the 2020 election, news articles and social media posts celebrated the legalization of recreational cannabis in multiple states: Montana, Arizona, New Jersey, and South Dakota. Then in late 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. (The bill remains stalled in the Senate.) But while decriminalization and legalization are the first steps toward equality, they are not a complete solution.
In November, South Dakota citizens took the unusual step of legalizing both recreational and medical use of marijuana in two initiatives on the same ballot. Constitutional Amendment A (which passed with 54 percent of the vote) allowed for recreational use and created a licensing system to establish, manage, and tax legal commerce.
American voters may be sharply polarized over many political issues of the day, but they are increasingly unified on one policy: legalizing marijuana.
Just look at the results of November’s election — every statewide measure to relax marijuana prohibition won. Arizona, Montana and New Jersey voted to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older. Medical marijuana was approved in Mississippi. South Dakota voters backed both recreational and medicinal use.
Marijuana legalization may be one of the few issues that Biden can use to garner support from both Republicans and Democrats, it was a perfect score. Here are the key results:
It can take a while to determine the victor in a presidential election. But one winner was abundantly clear on Election Day.
Drugs, once thought to be the scourge of a healthy society, are getting public recognition as a part of American life. Where drugs were on the ballot on Tuesday, they won handily.
New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana and Arizona joined 11 other states that had already legalized recreational marijuana. Mississippi and South Dakota made medical marijuana legal, bringing the total to 35.
Besides deciding on the next president, voters in several states on Tuesday made their choices on other important issues, like tax reform and drug reform.
In New Jersey, Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota, residents voted to legalize recreational cannabis.
Mississippi and South Dakota voted to legalize the medical use of cannabis in-state. And, for the first time in US history, Oregon decriminalized hard drugs, like cocaine, heroin, oxycodone, and methamphetamine. The state also voted to legalize psychedelic mushrooms.
The marijuana industry appeared headed for a clean sweep on Election Day, with voters approving new markets in Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota that could generate more than $2.5 billion in medical and recreational cannabis sales a year by 2024.
New Jersey, Arizona, Montana and South Dakota represented the 12th, 13th 14th and 15th states in the country to legalize recreational marijuana markets, according to media projections.
Voters in five states will decide seven marijuana-related ballot measures this year. Initiatives or propositions in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota would legalize marijuana for recreational use. Measures in Mississippi and South Dakota would legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Proponents of those measures say new legal sales — and the excise taxes that come with them — would fill revenue gaps at a time when state government budgets have been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.
get your FL Office of Medical Marijuana Use card!
get your MD Medical Cannabis Commission card!