Measures that will decriminalize marijuana: the case of five states, Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota (and the NORML petition)
Marijuana is sometimes seen as a third rail in American politics. Most Democratic lawmakers are ardent defenders of abortion rights and gay rights, but they are less vocal about decriminalizing marijuana. President Joe Biden pardoned all people who were convicted of federal marijuana possession on Thursday.
This year, marijuana legalization is on the ballot in five states: Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota (where state courts nullified the results of the 2020 legalization ballot measure). I was able to read the data available for the states. In Arkansas, Maryland and Missouri the marijuana legalization measures are favored to pass at this point. The data is unclear in the Dakotas.
It’s not as if the partisan gap for building a wall along the US Mexico border is the same as it is for marijuana.
This is obvious when we look at the marijuana ballot measures. It has passed in states with college graduates, like Colorado and Massachusetts. In states with a lower percentage of voters with college degrees, it has been legalized via the ballot.
Likewise, it has passed in the swing state with the highest proportion of White voters (Maine) and the lowest (Nevada). Nevada is also a state with one of the highest percentages of Hispanic residents in the country. This year, passage in a state with one of the highest proportions of Black voters (Maryland) seems all but assured, based on the polling.
Amendment 3 would also impose a 6% tax on the retail price of recreational marijuana. The amendment language states that it will not allow marijuana use while operating a motor vehicle, under the influence of marijuana when taking a task, or in cases where someone is dying from a drug overdose.
“It was written by the cultivators, paid for by the cultivators and only benefits the cultivators. It will hurt patients, consumers and Arkansans,” Fults told CNN. “If passed, it will be the WORST and most expensive marijuana program in the nation.”
The Family Council Action Committee, which is typically on the opposite side of NORML when it comes to relaxing marijuana laws, also voiced concerns over proposed regulation.
The petition also stated that cannabis businesses will be subject to random inspection for the presence of pesticides and that it will be tested for the potency of products.
If Measure 27 passes again, Noem, the governor of South Dakota, would implement the nullification process that was previously championed by her office, according to CNN.
Biden also tasked the Department of Health and Human Services and Attorney General Merrick Garland to “expeditiously” review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law, the first step toward potentially easing its federal classification.
Under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is listed on Schedule 1, with drugs like heroin and LSD, meaning it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” But in recent years, its medicinal benefits have become more acknowledged.
A “yes” vote would legalize recreational marijuana for adults ages 21 and older. It would also allow possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana and the growth of up to six mature marijuana plants and up to six seedlings.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a news briefing last month he “thinks it’s a bad idea” because recreational marijuana is still illegal federally and believes “the feds need to make a decision about marijuana.”
A majority of Republicans are in favor of legalization after decades of opposing it, according to a Gallup Poll.
Medical and Recreational Use in the Gray Areas: The Case of Armentano and Auxier, a Senior Policy Analyst, at the Tax Policy Center
There are provisions for both medical and recreational use in the gray areas. States have written laws such as fully legal markets collecting tax revenues and carve-out laws for specific products.
The piece of legal network is the result of a gradual improvement in views about the drug over the past 27 years.
“If there was a tipping point that would influence the federal government or Congress to prioritize this issue, we’ve clearly passed whatever that tipping point may have been quite some time ago,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML.
More and more states may be legalized through the work of their state Legislatures, rather than through ballot initiatives. He said that there are a limited number of states that can still make changes.
Richard Auxier is a senior policy associate with the Tax Policy Center. If you want, you can jump from zero to 60 in real quick if you want.