Midterms: Drug Policy Wins & Losses
Some states legalized weed. Some didn't. Colorado poised to pass a big psychedelic measure. A look at what the prohibitionists are saying. Thoughts about reform.
So elections happened and there was several drug policy and criminal justice reform stuff in play. First, let’s start with weed.
Legalize Mids
Maryland and Missouri voters approved legal marijuana for adult recreational use. Arkansas, along with North and South Dakota, rejected marijuana legalization measures.
Starting with the losers. The Dakota’s were fairly close. North Dakota’s previous legalization ballot lost by 19 points and this year it lost by only 10. Two years ago, 54 percent of South Dakota voters supported a legal marijuana ballot measure but the state’s supreme court struck it down on a technicality. This year, South Dakota voters rejected MJ legalization by a six-point margin. Some pro-legalization advocates were actually OK with the Arkansas measure losing. They thought it was overly strict and would create a market favoring big businesses flush with capital, doing little to correct the harms of prohibition that have fallen disparately on Black and other marginalized communities.
As for the winners. Maryland and Missouri’s legalization brings the total number of states with legal cannabis to 21. Both states also had imporant criminal justice reforms baked into the legalization measures. Maryland’s is more robust, allowing for the expungment of records by those with previous marijuana-related convictions. Low-level marijuana offenses will be automatically expunged while others have to fill out petitions. The Legislative Black Caucus in Missouri expressed skepticism over their state’s ballot measure, saying that it doesn’t do enough to help those with prior convictions.
Missouri’s vote to legalize marijuana is all the more interesting because voters also elected Republican Eric Schmitt for governor, along with hearty Republican majorites in the House and Senate. Voters also overwhelmingly approved Constitutional Amendment 4 to increase funding for police. That a thoroughly conservative state voted to legalize weed exposes something of a growing chasm between conservative politicians and their constituents on this issue.
Pro-prohibition
Organizations committed to defeating legalization cried foul at Missouri and Maryland winning. They complained of “misinformation,” “deceptive” ballot questions, and being massively outpsent by the opposition. They’re implying that voters were duped and unaware of what they actually voted for. (
(Idk guys…just take the L?)
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