Originally posted in CBS NEWS
June 22, 2021 | Zoe Christen Jones
Connecticut’s governor on Tuesday signed a bill legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, making his state the 19th to do so. The bill also erases certain marijuana-related convictions and reserves business licenses for people in communities impacted by the war on drugs.
“For decades, the war on cannabis caused injustices and created disparities while doing little to protect public health and safety,” Governor Ned Lamont said in a statement. “The law that I signed today begins to right some of those wrongs by creating a comprehensive framework for a regulated market that prioritizes public health, public safety, criminal justice, and equity.”
Beginning July 1, people who are 21 years old and older can legally possess up to 1.5 ounces and up to 5 ounces stored at home or locked in their car. Retail sales are expected to begin by the end of 2022, the governor’s office said.
Connecticut’s governor on Tuesday signed a bill legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, making his state the 19th to do so. The bill also erases certain marijuana-related convictions and reserves business licenses for people in communities impacted by the war on drugs.
“For decades, the war on cannabis caused injustices and created disparities while doing little to protect public health and safety,” Governor Ned Lamont said in a statement. “The law that I signed today begins to right some of those wrongs by creating a comprehensive framework for a regulated market that prioritizes public health, public safety, criminal justice, and equity.”
Beginning July 1, people who are 21 years old and older can legally possess up to 1.5 ounces and up to 5 ounces stored at home or locked in their car. Retail sales are expected to begin by the end of 2022, the governor’s office said.
The new law erases some marijuana-related convictions between January 1, 2000, and October 1, 2015. The governor’s office said half of all initial business licenses will be reserved for “social equity candidates” in an effort to start the “necessary work of repairing the damage caused by decades of failed cannabis criminalization policies.”
Under the new law, selling or providing cannabis to people under 21 is a misdemeanor. The law also bans residents from smoking marijuana on state properties such as state parks, state beaches and state waters.
Steven Hawkins, executive director for the Marijuana Policy Project, a group that advocated for the bill, applauded the governor and state lawmakers for getting the bill “over the finish line.”
“Connecticut has recognized that cannabis legalization is a civil rights issue and crafted a legalization law that aims to redress the unequal enforcement of cannabis laws and the harm caused by marijuana prohibition to Black and Brown communities, young people, and other marginalized groups,” Hawkins said in a statement.
Alexandra Hutzler
5/25/21
Originally posted in Newsweek
States that have legalized marijuana have seen billions of dollars in tax revenue as a result, according to a new report from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).
MPP, a pro-legalization organization, found states made a combined total of $7.9 billion in tax revenue from recreational marijuana since sales began in 2014—with $2.7 billion in tax revenue reported in 2020.
California, which legalized recreational cannabis in 2016, made more than $1 billion in tax revenue in 2020, the report said.
“Legalizing cannabis for adults has proven to be a wise investment,” Jared Moffat, the state campaigns manager at MPP, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Not only are states seeing the benefits of a regulated market and far fewer cannabis-related arrests—they’re benefitting in a direct, economic way, too.”
In recent years, 18 states have legalized marijuana for adults 21 and over with laws regulating and taxing sales. However, eight of those states only legalized marijuana in the past two years, and seven of those states have not begun collecting taxes on marijuana sales yet.
Voters in four states—Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota—passed ballot measures in the 2020 elections to legalize weed for adults. Legal marijuana began to be sold in Arizona on Jan. 21, 2021, the other three states have not begun sales.
So far this year, lawmakers in New York, New Mexico and Virginia have also passed legislation to legalize the drug.
New York could soon see $245 million in marijuana tax revenue, according to a report from the state comptroller’s office. For the first year of cannabis sales, the state is expected to see $20 million in tax and fee collections. That is expected to grow to $115 million in 2022, $158 million in 2023, and $245 million in 2024.
In its report released Tuesday, MPP also highlighted how some of the states are using some of their marijuana tax revenue.
In Alaska, half of the money is invested in a Recidivism Reduction Fund to strengthen reentry programs for formerly incarcerated people. California has redirected its tax revenue funds to community programs that help those adversely affected by drug laws.
In Colorado, Michigan and Oregon, more than millions of the state’s total cannabis tax revenue has been allocated to improving public schools. Over the past seven years, $404.5 million of the total revenue generated in Colorado has been dedicated to the school system.
“Before legalization, money from cannabis sales flowed through an underground market that endangered public safety and disrupted communities,” Moffat said in a statement. “But now, we see all across the country that revenue from the legal cannabis industry is supporting schools, health care, and a range of other beneficial public programs.”
“If I were a legislator or voter in a state that has not passed a legalization law, I would have a bad case of FOMO — fear of missing out,” Moffat said. “Cannabis taxes are supporting all kinds of socially beneficial public programs, and these numbers show that, once you get started, the revenue only increases year after year. For any state that still maintains a prohibitionist policy, they’ve got to be thinking about when their state will make the switch. And these numbers suggest the sooner the better.”
Originally posted in WTHR
September 21, 2021 | Madison Stacey
INDIANAPOLIS — Laws regarding marijuana possession are hardly lax in the state of Indiana. If you are caught with some in your pocket today, that can mean a $5,000 fine depending on how much you have. Possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana is a class A misdemeanor with a penalty of up to one year imprisonment, while penalties for concentrates are even steeper.
Yet, along these same streets where getting stopped with mere milligrams of weed potentially wracks up 180 days in prison, one type of THC is available for purchase.
It’s called delta-8-THC, a relative newcomer to the cannabis world and an increasingly popular alternative for consumers looking for a legal way to consume weed.
Jim DeCamp owns Owlsee CBD in Fountain Square, and didn’t see much local interest in delta-8 until a post on Reddit tipped people off to its existence.
“People didn’t know about it. Then it became a thing on Reddit where everybody was talking about it. And so it probably took until March of this year to actually see a spike in the sales of the 8,” DeCamp said. “I would say with the delta-8, the demographic is younger. I think that’s true, just because of the research internet and their familiarity with Reddit.”
By that point, it was so popular, businesses started marketing delta-8 hard to draw in new potential clients.
“It is a traffic builder for your other products,” DeCamp said.
But last week, the FDA and CDC both released warnings concerning delta-8, specifically advising consumers that just because the product is hemp, doesn’t mean it’s non-psychoactive.
“The FDA is also concerned that delta-8 THC products likely expose consumers to much higher levels of the substance than are naturally occurring in hemp cannabis raw extracts,” the organization said in a report.
In short, despite it’s availability, delta-8 is a potent compound that can get you high.
As the conversation around the regulation, legality and health effectiveness of delta-8 ramps up, here are some quick facts to know.
Delta-8 is a cannabinoid that is extracted from cannabis plants. Delta-8 products often offered to consumers in the form of tinctures, gummies, inhalables or vaporizers.
Delta-8-THC products are often sold alongside CBD products.
When we talk about THC, we’re normally talking about delta-9. That’s one of many hundreds of cannabinoid molecules, but it’s known as the main ingredient that causes people to feel high.
Scientifically, delta-8 and delta-9 are similar. Delta-9 has a double bond on the ninth carbon atom, while delta-8 has one of those double bonds on it’s eighth carbon atom. That’s how we get the names, and also what makes delta-9 more potent than delta-8.
Where delta-9 offers an intense high, delta-8 is generally considered to be mildly euphoric.
A 1973 Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics study actually found delta-8 is half as potent as delta-9-THC, but, as studies on delta-8 remain scant, scientists don’t yet know why.
Delta-8 is also commonly sold alongside CBD products, which has some people confusing or equating delta-8 products with CBD ones, which have no psychoactive effects.
That’s because CBD binds to our brain differently than THC, which binds with the cannabinoid 1 receptors in our brain. Those receptors produce the sense of high.
CBD does not bind at all to those receptors, or loosely in the most extreme cases, so they don’t make us high.
That, the FDA warns, could be dangerous for people seeking out the therapeutic effects of CBD, then get hit with an unanticipated high.
Delta-8 contains THC, so it can indeed produce a mild high. What constitutes a “mild high” depends on the person though.
If you are sensitive to THC, those psychoactive effects found in delta-8 may be more pronounced.
If you consume weed more consistently, you may feel moderate or little effects from delta-8.
Some advocates of delta-8 say it can offer pain relief, anxiety and improved sleep. While DeCamp sells it as his stores, and has seen clients who said they experienced benefits, he’s not ready yet to tout delta-8 as the end-all, be all of medical cures.
It’s simply there for his clients if they need it.
“There are no incidences of the overdosing on this with side effects, long lasting side effects, but it’s still in its infancy. The government will probably change the Farm Bill, regardless of whether it’s delta-8, delta-10, delta-9 or, you know… they’re coming up with all kinds of different THC derivatives from the hemp plant,” he said.
The FDA and CDC are not the only entities raising concern over delta-8 products.
In a report released earlier this summer, the U.S. Cannabis Council said “the fact that it is being sold outside of the regulated marketplace with no oversight or testing and is readily available to children is alarming, and it presents a public health risk of potentially wider impact than the vape crisis.”
Between December 2020 and January 2021 alone, the FDA received reports of 22 people who’d consumed delta-8 products, including 14 people who’d ended up in the hospital or emergency room.
Nationally, poison control centers received more than 600 calls involving delta-8 exposure since January of this year. Of those calls, 39% involved kids under the age of 18.
In 2018, President Donald Trump passed the Farm Bill, a piece of legislation which legalized hemp-derived compounds.
That legislation legalized hemp, which is defined as a cannabis plant that contains 0.3 percent delta-9 THC or less — levels considered too low to have a psychoactive effect.
The 2018 Farm Bill set the framework for wider hemp cultivation across the country, but there were loopholes.
The bill did not address delta-8 THC levels, which opened up vendors to sell it as edibles, vape cartridges and tinctures, with no oversight.
At least fifteen states have moved to regulate delta-8, but the Indiana State Legislature has not taken any steps to prohibit the sale or use of delta-8.
However, according to Indiana law firm Banks & Brower LLC, some black market products purporting to be delta-8 could exceed that .3% THC threshold, making it a Schedule 1 drug in Indiana.
For now, it is still legal to purchase in Indiana.
Buyer beware though, delta-8 can still trigger positive results for a marijuana field test. And it is still against the law to operate a vehicle while under the influence, a definition which extends to alcohol and drugs.
Taking delta-8 in any form then operating a vehicle could lead to an Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated charge.
If you think you are having a serious side effect that is an immediate danger to your health, call 911 or go to your local emergency room.
Originally posted on Cannabis Dispensary
February 5, 2021 | Melissa Schiller
Indiana Rep. Vanessa Summers has introduced legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state, according to a local WTWO/WAWV report.
The bill, H.B. 1154, would create a cannabis regulatory agency to license adult-use businesses and regulate the industry, the news outlet reported.
The legislation shares several similarities with Illinois’ Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, according to WTWO/WAWV, including an expungement process that would allow those with past cannabis-related convictions to clear their records.
Summers’ legislation has been referred to the House Committee on Courts and Criminal Code, the news outlet reported.
In the Senate, Sen. Karen Tallian has introduced additional cannabis legalization bills, including S.B. 87 to regulate cannabis and hemp and S.B. 223 to decriminalize the possession of up to 2 ounces of cannabis.
Originally posted on Forbes
August 3, 2020 | Emily Price
While the COVID-19 pandemic has damaged a wide range of industries around the world, it looks like cannabis might not be one of them. An industry white paper last week shows that the cannabis industry’s 2020 growth is currently outpacing that of 2019. Hiring for cannabis companies os also already on the rebound, and retailers are actually purchasing more product from companies than they were prior to the pandemic.
The white paper, The State of the Cannabis Industry:2020 is available as a free download now. It was created as a joint collaboration between LeafLink, Vangst, and FlowHub.
If you’re not familiar with the companies, LeafLink is a wholesale marketplace for cannabis and contributed insights from transactions between brands and retailers. Flowhub is a cannabis retail management platform for modern dispensaries and offered a dispensary sales perspective for the paper, and Vangst is a human capital resource platform for the legal cannabis industry, and provided guidance from a hiring outlook.
The white paper shows a two-week spike in cannabis sales in March, around the time the United States started to react to COVID-19 and stay at home orders started to go into place. A good bit of that sales spike is likely due to panic buying by customers who were unsure when they would be able to access the dispensary going forward.
After that two-week spike there was a slight decline, possibility attributable to those sale customers discovering that dispensaries would be deemed essential (and the need to work through that stash).
Afterward, there was a recovery period with a few more spikes leading up to 4/20, when sales stabilized, although they stabilized at a volume significantly higher than they were in 2019, to the tune of 40% more on average. That’s a big jump.
The whole white paper is worth a read, but points to a stronger cannabis industry as a whole as the economy starts moving again and states start opening up.
Beyond its currently use, researchers are also looking at cannabis as a potential way to both treat and possible prevent COVID-19.
The researchers, Olga and Igor Kovalchuck have reportedly been developing and testing a novel cannabis strain for years, except with the goal of creating a strain that helps to combat cancer and inflammation. When the pandemic hit, the duo started to focus their efforts on how the strain might be used to help fight COVID-19.
That study was published in April, and highlights that cannabis, specifically a particular strain of cannabis, could potentially block COVID-19 from being able to enter a person’s body in the first place.
That’s still a theory, but if proven could potentially put cannabis at the center of the search for a COVID-19 treatment and cure.
Whether it or not it ends up being out way out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it looks like cannabis has become how many people are making it through it.
Originally posted on IndyStar
March 26, 2021 | Justin L. Mack
The 2021 legislative session began with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle filing nearly a dozen bills to change the way marijuana is handled in the state of Indiana.
Bills to allow medical marijuana. Bills to decriminalize. Bills to outright legalize.
But as the smoke clears and the end of session approaches, only one of those bills will make it to the desk of Gov. Eric Holcomb.
The rest were reduced to ash.
Neighboring states getting high revenue:Indiana watches as neighbors cash in on weed
This isn’t a new thing for Indiana. In 2020 and 2019, about a dozen legalization, decriminalization or regulation bills were introduced. All of them failed to receive a committee hearing.
Here’s what the one surviving bill says, and a look at the bills that will have to try again next year.
Senate Bill 201 – Authored by Sen. Michael Young (R)
What it says: Provides a defense to prosecution for a person who operates a vehicle with marijuana or its metabolite in the person’s blood under certain conditions.
The defense is applicable if at the time of operation the person was not intoxicated, the person did not cause a traffic accident and the substance was identified by means of a chemical test.
How it got here: Largely unscathed. After initially being referred to the Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law the bill gained Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, and Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, as co-authors and passed through the Senate without amendments.
In the House the bill was sponsored by Rep. John Young, R-Franklin; Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour; Rep. Cindy Ledbetter, R-Boonville; Rep. Heath VanNatter, R-Kokomo.
The bill passed through the house successfully and returned to the Senate without amendments Wednesday. The enrolled act now awaits Holcomb’s signature.
House Bill 1028 – Authored by Rep. Jim Lucas (R)
What it says now: Provides a defense to prosecution for a person who operates a vehicle with marijuana or its metabolite in the person’s blood under certain conditions.
What it used to say: Before being amended into something that mimics the language of Senate Bill 201, House Bill 1028 was focused on actual decriminalization.
The introduced bill stated that possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana or five grams or less of hash oil would become a Class D infraction. The bill wanted to make possession of paraphernalia used for consumption a Class D infraction.
The original bill established a per se intoxication level of 10 nanograms of THC per milliliter of whole blood for purposes of operating while intoxicated laws, and required that the analysis of controlled substances in a person’s blood measure only the controlled substance and not the metabolites of the controlled substance.
How far it went: The bill was sent to the Committee on Courts and Criminal Code where it was given a hearing on Feb. 16 and amended into its current form. Rep. Steve Bartels, R-Eckerty; Rep. Chris Campbell, D-Lafayette; and Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper were added as co-authors as the new bill successfully made it through the House.
Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, became the legislation’s sponsor as it moved to the Senate and was referred to the Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law on Feb. 24.
That is where the bill’s journey ended. It did not receive a hearing after moving to the Senate.
What it said: Decriminalizes possession of two ounces or less of marijuana.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code where it did not receive a hearing.
Senate Bill 104 – Authored by Sen. Greg Taylor (D)
What it said: Allows people with a valid medical marijuana card from another state to possess marijuana and paraphernalia. Also applies to those who suffer from a terminal illness or serious untreatable disease who, in the professional written opinion of a physician, benefits from treatment with marijuana.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law where it did not receive a hearing
Senate Bill 87 – Authored by Sen. Karen Tallian (D)
What it said: Establishes the Cannabis Compliance Commission to regulate all forms of legal cannabis in Indiana, including industrial hemp and low THC hemp extract.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Commerce and Technology where it did not receive a hearing.
Senate Bill 321 – Authored by Sen. David Niezgodski (D)
What it said: Establishes a five-year medical cannabis pilot program administered by the Indiana State Department of Health. The bill reduces the penalty for possession of marijuana, hashish, hash oil, and salvia to a Class C infraction for a first offense, a Class C misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense and a Class A misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense if the person possesses more than a specified amount.
The legislation also states that a person’s probation may not be revoked solely on the basis that the person tested positive for marijuana or a metabolite of marijuana.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law where it did not receive a hearing.
House Bill 1026 – Authored by Rep. Jim Lucas (R)
What it said: Permits the use of medical marijuana by those with serious medical conditions as determined by their physician. Establishes a medical marijuana program led by the Indiana State Department of Health. The bill requires that medical marijuana and medical marijuana products be properly labeled, placed in child resistant packaging and does not use packaging that is appealing to children.
The bill also prohibits harassment of medical marijuana users by law enforcement officers, and prohibits cooperation with federal law enforcement officials seeking to enforce federal laws that criminalize the use of marijuana authorized in Indiana.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Public Health where it did not receive a hearing.
House Bill 1214 – Authored by Rep. Sue Errington (D) co-authored by Rep. John Bartlett (D)
What it said: Establishes a medical marijuana program and permits caregivers or patients who have received a physician recommendation to possess a certain quantity of marijuana. Establishes a regulatory agency to oversee the program, and creates the regulatory agency advisory committee to review the effectiveness of the program and to consider recommendations from the regulatory agency.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Public Health where it did not receive a hearing.
What it said: Establishes a medical cannabis program under the Indiana State Department of Health.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law where it did not receive a hearing.
House Bill 1026 – Authored by Rep. Jim Lucas (R)
What it said: Permits the use of medical marijuana by those with serious medical conditions as determined by their physician. Establishes a medical marijuana program led by the Indiana State Department of Health. The bill requires that medical marijuana and medical marijuana products be properly labeled, placed in child resistant packaging and does not use packaging that is appealing to children.
The bill also prohibits harassment of medical marijuana users by law enforcement officers, and prohibits cooperation with federal law enforcement officials seeking to enforce federal laws that criminalize the use of marijuana authorized in Indiana.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Public Health where it did not receive a hearing.
House Bill 1214 – Authored by Rep. Sue Errington (D) co-authored by Rep. John Bartlett (D)
What it said: Establishes a medical marijuana program and permits caregivers or patients who have received a physician recommendation to possess a certain quantity of marijuana. Establishes a regulatory agency to oversee the program, and creates the regulatory agency advisory committee to review the effectiveness of the program and to consider recommendations from the regulatory agency.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Public Health where it did not receive a hearing.
What it said: Establishes a medical cannabis program under the Indiana State Department of Health.
The legislation reduces penalties for possession of marijuana, hashish, hash oil, and salvia at the same levels and states that a person’s probation may not be revoked solely on the basis that the person tested positive for marijuana or a metabolite of marijuana.
Where it is: Referred to Committee on Public Health where it did not receive a hearing.
Senate Bill 223 – Authored by Sen. Karen Tallian (D)
What it said: Makes it so that anyone who possesses more than two ounces of marijuana commits the offense of possession of marijuana. Current Indiana law states the offense is applicable for any amount of marijuana. The bill also repeals the offense of possession of marijuana, hash oil, hashish or salvia as a Level 6 felony.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law where it did not receive a hearing.
House Bill 1154 – Authored by Rep. Vanessa Summers (D)
What it said: Legalizes cannabis possession and use while establishing the Cannabis Regulatory Agency to regulate cannabis in the state. The bill also makes use or possession by anyone under 21 and consumption of cannabis in a public place a Class B misdemeanor; and allows a person sentenced for a cannabis offense committed before July 1, 2021, to petition for sentence modification.
Where it ended: Referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code where it did not receive a hearing.
Originally posted on Leafly
October 25, 2021 | John Campbell
At the start of 2021, 13 state legislatures had recreational legalization measures on the table. New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, and New Mexico actually followed through and legalized cannabis for all adults. It’s now legal to possess in all three states. Retail markets are expected to open next year in all those states except Virginia, which doesn’t allow retail stores until 2024.
Who’s next?
“The pressure is really on lawmakers at every level of government to take action,” said Carly Wolf, NORML’s state policies director. “Public and political support has only continued to increase.”
With the midterm elections coming up in Nov. 2022, some state legislators face increasing pressure to pass a legalization law that they craft—or have the voters pass their own law.
Here’s what’s happening in the states most seriously considering adult-use legalization, in order of most-likely to least-likely.
Lawmakers in Maryland started this year confident that they would pass an adult use bill, only to see the legislation falter. But all signs point toward approval in 2022.
In July, Adrienne Jones, Speaker of the House of Delegates and leader of the body’s Democratic majority, pledged to place the issue before voters as a ballot referendum in 2022. She also took the unusual step of setting up a legislative “work group” that will begin mapping out rules for a regulated industry, even before voters formally approve one.
A March 2021 survey from Goucher College found two-thirds of Marylanders supported full legalization, including more than half of Republican voters, so the effort stands a good chance of success.
Missouri legalization advocates are confident about their chances for approving a regulated market in the coming year. Legal Missouri 2022 is one of two groups aiming to put a ballot referendum before voters. The coronavirus hasn’t made things easy, however.
“The last effort this coalition made was in 2020,” John Payne, campaign manager for Legal Missouri 2022, told Leafly. “We were gathering signatures, and things were going very well. And then the world kind of stopped.”
The group’s most recent constitutional amendment measure was approved by Missouri’s Secretary of State in early October, clearing the way to begin gathering the approximately 171,000 signatures they’ll need.
With a “strong coalition and strong fundraising,” Payne gives the campaign an “80-90 percent” chance of success this year.
Legal Missouri 2022’s legislation would include home cultivation and some equity measures, like automatic expungement of past cannabis convictions.
Advocates in Oklahoma are looking to expand and better manage cannabis sales in that state, and earlier this month filed for a proposed constitutional amendment legalizing adult use in 2022.
Oklahoma passed a medical cannabis program in 2018 that has evolved into one of the most permissive in the country, with few limitations on who can qualify. Invariably described in news reports as weed’s “Wild West,” medical cannabis has exploded in Oklahoma over the past three years, and nearly 10 percent of the state’s population has obtained a medical recommendation.
The current proposal would allow for possession of up to eight ounces of cannabis by those over 21 without a medical approval, and cultivation of up to 12 plants. The measure would also replace the current regulatory agency to help better organize the state’s wide open industry.
Ohio is the largest state with a real chance of legalization in the near term, but its convoluted “initiated statute” process means there’s no smooth path to adult use in the Buckeye State.
“The entire initiated statute approach to an initiative is really opaque,” Douglas Berman, a professor of law at Ohio State University and executive director of the university’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, told Leafly. “But it makes it awfully likely that this will get to the ballot by November 2022.”
As of late August, a group calling itself the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has been cleared to begin gathering signatures for the first stage of the likely two-stage process.
They’ll need around 130,000 signatures of support to qualify their bill, after which it would head to the Ohio legislature for an up or down vote. If the measure is voted down by lawmakers, or if no action is taken within four months — an outcome Berman thinks is likely given Ohio’s conservative statehouse and governor — the measure could be presented to voters at the 2022 election. But only after a second costly round of signature gathering.
Berman thinks the advocacy groups involved are up to the organizational challenge of a dual petitioning period, and that adult use stands a good chance of success. Still, the politics could be fluid amid a heated midterm election, he said, and Ohio voters rejected a controversial adult use bill in 2015.
The proposed measure would legalize possession of up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and cultivation of up to six plants per person. It would also include expungement of many past nonviolent cannabis convictions.
Like Missouri, Arkansas is another state where legalization efforts withered last year under pressure from the coronavirus. Advocates with Arkansas True Grass had to abandon their signature gathering push amid rising case counts. They’re back at it for 2022, and if they can gather the roughly 89,000 signatures they need, voters in the November midterms will be able to approve a constitutional amendment establishing a legal adult use market.
Advocates are framing the measure as an economic and criminal justice reform, but also hope its cultivation provision will improve access for patients under the medical program approved by Arkansas voters in 2016. Current guidelines don’t permit enough producers to meet demand, advocates say, and retail costs haven’t budged from the top dollar of prohibition days, averaging as much as $20 per gram at the state’s dispensaries.
The measure would amend the state’s constitution to permit retail sales to adults over 21 years old, allow the cultivation of up to 12 plants, and reverse convictions for some of those serving time for nonviolent cannabis offenses.
Now that its neighbors in New Jersey and New York have begun establishing regulated markets, advocates in Pennsylvania hope momentum is building for adult use measures introduced in the state legislature over the past year. One bill, proposed but not formally introduced in February, would set up a retail industry and allow for home cultivation, while a similar measure without the cultivation provisions was introduced in late September. Both bills include equity measures and, in a first for the state, have bipartisan sponsorship.
Legalization increasingly has support from Pennsylvania’s highest officials. Governor Tom Wolf said in February that he wanted to make cannabis legalization a priority for 2021, joining other top officials like Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who have long called for an end to prohibition.
Fetterman in particular has been an outspoken cannabis advocate for years, sometimes needling his Republican colleagues by flying a weed leaf flag and an LGBTQ pride banner from his office balcony.
Despite support from the top, whether legalization can gain traction in Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled legislature is an open question. A spokesperson for the house majority leader told the Philadelphia Inquirer this month that there was “no significant support” at the moment from Republicans there.
After previous ballot initiatives were blocked by the state’s highest court twice in close succession this summer, advocates in Florida are making another attempt to get an adult use measure in front of voters in 2022. This time, the group leading the effort, Sensible Florida, is confident their ballot language will pass legal muster.
The Supreme Court of Florida struck down two earlier cannabis ballot measures, saying summary language submitted by backers was misleading because it didn’t specifically warn about conflicting federal law, or accurately describe possession limits. The most recent language sidesteps those concerns by narrowing its scope dramatically; it would legalize cultivation and possession by adults, but not establish a retail system.
Aside from language, advocates will face new challenges this time around, after Florida lawmakers in April set tighter contribution limits for ballot initiative campaigns, part of a decades-long effort by Republicans in Florida to weaken the citizen initiative process.
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