Drug Reform Continues in 2020 Election
Regardless of whether you’re happy with the results of the 2020 Presidential election, there were two very positive things that occurred of which all Americans can be proud. The first, and most important item from the election was that Americans still care about democracy. More citizens voted in this election than in any Presidential election in United States history.
The second substantive event on November 3rd was the continued crumbling of the draconian wall of marijuana/cannabis prohibition. Voters in five states, including Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota passed various degrees of cannabis legalization ballot measures, while one state, Oregon passed a ballot proposal that legalized the use of psilocybin mushrooms.
Remarkably, after the 2020 election results, now, only three states in the country, Nebraska, Kansas, and Idaho maintain full prohibition status with cannabis. This is a truly remarkable statistic, considering that even in the deep south and all along the Bible belt, cannabis is legal (to varying degrees) for medical purposes.
Voters in Arizona approved Proposition 207, legalizing recreational marijuana for those 21 and older. Prop 207 also comes with a hefty 16% excise tax of marijuana purchases.
Mississippi had two options for approving medical cannabis and chose the initiative that gave patients broader access to cannabis. Voters chose Initiative 65 which allows Mississippians to use medical cannabis for 20 medical conditions and cap quantities that patients can possess at 2.5 ounces.
In Montana, Intiative-190 and Constitutional Initiative 118 passed legalizing recreational marijuana for those 21 and older. The Initiative limited possession of marijuana to one ounce of flos (dried flower) and less than 8 grams of THC concentrate.
The citizens in New Jersey proved that when the legislature doesn’t meet the needs and demands of the people, the people will seek their own legislative relief. After the issue of recreational marijuana failed in the state legislature, advocates took up the issue and passed Question 1, amending the New Jersey constitution to permit those 21 and older to possess, cultivate, process, and sell marijuana in the state.
The voters in South Dakota also amended their state constitution, approving Amendment A, allowing the purchase and possession of up to once ounce of marijuana. Also approved was Measure 26 which requires the state to implement a medical cannabis program enabling patients with qualifying medical conditions to use, possess, and home cultivate cannabis.
And although the news for cannabis activists seems like it couldn’t be better, one needs to continue to remember that until Congress changes cannabis’ drug scheduling, the cannabis revolution sweeping across the country is not secure. Currently, cannabis is still considered a Schedule I substance under the 1970 Controlled Substance Act.
Additionally, speaking of Schedule I substances, Oregon voters made history with the passage of Measure 109. The successful measure made the state the first to legalize the use and production of psilocybin mushrooms, as well as psilocybin-assisted therapy. Another ground-breaking legislative event was the passing of Measure 110 which decriminalize the possession of small amounts of heroin and cocaine.
And if you think the cannabis genie is out of the bottle, I’d suggest reading my memoir about my time in the medical industry, Pot Doc: A Physician’s Search for the Holy Grail of Medical Marijuana (available now at www.potdocthebook.com). I thought it was safe to open a cannabis testing lab for quality control purposes, but it wasn’t. The entire Montana medical marijuana program was on life support for five years until another citizen’s initiative could be passed in 2016.
***An update on HR 3884, otherwise known as the MORE Act, the bill to de-schedule and de-criminalize cannabis, which was supposed to be voted on in September, but for political reasons was postponed until after the elections, has been rescheduled for a house vote sometime in December. I would encourage every pro-cannabis citizen to call their Congressional representative and ask for their support on this important piece of legislation. ***
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