As expected with the start of many states’ legislative sessions in 2023 that there would be a flurry of legalization and medical marijuana bills introduced. Unfortunately, most of these bills will not be signed into law, but it’s progress that opponents of legalization have to gear up and fight these every year now. And the bills only have to pass once. Take Virginia for example… they passed legalization in 2019 before the 2020 election. Legalization would NEVER get though the Republican controlled House now, but since it’s already done so, most representatives are unwilling to risk outlawing it again since over 60% of all Virginians support it.
So here’s a new update highlighting some states to actually keep an eye on. This is NOT a complete list, just some states where I think legalization has a chance and/or something interesting for us to watch.
Delaware: And now there are 22! In a bit of a surprise, the 1st state becomes the 22nd state to legalize Marijuana as the Governor just announced today he will allow the bills to become law w/o his signature. Folks are celebrating him for not Vetoing the same bills as passed both houses last year. I’m a bit jaded myself. Both the Senate and House Bills passed this year with a veto proof margin. I’m guessing that the Governor didn’t want the override to be thrown in his face is a better reason. Either way... one more state to the list... smoke 'em if you got 'em!
Hawaii: A bit of a disappointment here as most felt (with the exception of OK and Minnesota), this was the biggest change of a state legalizing. More of a punt as the bill got through the Senate easily, but the Speaker of the House wanted more time to look at it over the Summer (He IS a supporter of legalization). So the bill will be revived in the 2nd session in 2024 and won’t have to go through the Senate again. Still a swing and miss for 2023.
Idaho: So there’s a medical cannabis bill working in the legislature. IMHO, no way it doesn’t get tabled and IF by some miracle it did make it through both houses, the governor would veto it. No chance. There’s also a group gathering signatures for the 2024 election. Again, I think the chances are LONG.
Kentucky: So they just became the 38th state to have a formal medical program. That kind of came out of nowhere.
Minnesota: Probably the longest process in the country for legalization, with the bills having to go through 15 committees in each chamber to even get a floor vote. WOW. The bill has cleared all 15 in the HoR and will get a floor vote on Monday. Next week the bill goes before the 15th committee in the Senate (and it’s expected to get a voice vote approval) before heading to the Senate Floor the 1st week of May where it is expected to pass easily. The governor has already said he will sign the bill. So unless something totally unexpected happens, Minnesota will become #23 by mid May.
Montana: So Montana is a legal state (made that way by a voter mandate). But there was a bill in the legislature to undo that. That bill failed to advance out of the 1st committee on a vote of 6-4 with 3 Republicans joining 3 Democrats to table the bill. This is noteworthy b/c it’s a prime example of something being a LOT harder to get rid of once people have it as all 3 of those Republican opposed legalization, BUT refused to go against the will of the people (and rightfully so).
Ohio: In weed update #1, I wrote: “Lawmakers have until May 3rd to approve a citizen-initiated recreational proposal or the issue will go before the voters this year. In lawsuit settlement last year that saw the issue dropped from the ballot, there was an agreement that a legalization bill would be introduced in 2023 to legalize marijuana. If the legislature did not pass the bill (and I’d be STUNNED if they did), the folks that are pushing for legalization could continue to collect signature (including the signatures that they collected in 2022) and push to have the issue on a 2023 special elections ballot. So there’s a decent chance that Ohio will be voting on legalization this year and early polling shows that the votes are there to get it done.” This is almost certainly coming down to a 2023 vote.
Oklahoma: In weed update #1, I wrote: “To me, this seems a repeat of Arizona last year where a well funded anti legalization campaign was run by Republican lawmakers with less than a month before the election turned the tide there. Add in the fact that marijuana legalization is the ONLY thing on the ballot and that means a very uncertain voter turnout. I’m hopeful, but will believe it when I see it.” And surely enough that’s exactly what happened. To be fair, the medical bill that they approved in 2018 was one of the most liberal in the country with NO LIMITS on the licences for growers. Oddly enough, organized crime moved in on that and used the no hassle growing to ship weed to states where it was illegal. There were some shootings this year between crime groups and that certainly soured public opinion. In fact, this wasn’t even close as 60% of voters voted no on it.
US Virgin Islands: An early win for the legalization crowd as the governor of the US Virgin Islands signed legalization into law in January. Not a state obviously, but like Los Vegas, this is a popular vacation spot where folks can try it out w/o risk and take that positive experience back home.
Virginia: In weed update #1, I wrote: “There’s no chance of a reversal on marijuana policy, it will be interesting to see what the Republicans do (if anything)for setting up the marketplace.” And that’s turned out to be true… Republicans have done nothing, so sales won’t be happening next year… but hey… at least it’s legal to have it and you can just run across the border to Maryland to get it.
Interesting things:
So the NBA is dropping testing for marijuana. That’s pretty huge IMHO.
So here’s a new update highlighting some states to actually keep an eye on. This is NOT a complete list, just some states where I think legalization has a chance and/or something interesting for us to watch.
Delaware: And now there are 22! In a bit of a surprise, the 1st state becomes the 22nd state to legalize Marijuana as the Governor just announced today he will allow the bills to become law w/o his signature. Folks are celebrating him for not Vetoing the same bills as passed both houses last year. I’m a bit jaded myself. Both the Senate and House Bills passed this year with a veto proof margin. I’m guessing that the Governor didn’t want the override to be thrown in his face is a better reason. Either way... one more state to the list... smoke 'em if you got 'em!
Hawaii: A bit of a disappointment here as most felt (with the exception of OK and Minnesota), this was the biggest change of a state legalizing. More of a punt as the bill got through the Senate easily, but the Speaker of the House wanted more time to look at it over the Summer (He IS a supporter of legalization). So the bill will be revived in the 2nd session in 2024 and won’t have to go through the Senate again. Still a swing and miss for 2023.
Idaho: So there’s a medical cannabis bill working in the legislature. IMHO, no way it doesn’t get tabled and IF by some miracle it did make it through both houses, the governor would veto it. No chance. There’s also a group gathering signatures for the 2024 election. Again, I think the chances are LONG.
Kentucky: So they just became the 38th state to have a formal medical program. That kind of came out of nowhere.
Minnesota: Probably the longest process in the country for legalization, with the bills having to go through 15 committees in each chamber to even get a floor vote. WOW. The bill has cleared all 15 in the HoR and will get a floor vote on Monday. Next week the bill goes before the 15th committee in the Senate (and it’s expected to get a voice vote approval) before heading to the Senate Floor the 1st week of May where it is expected to pass easily. The governor has already said he will sign the bill. So unless something totally unexpected happens, Minnesota will become #23 by mid May.
Montana: So Montana is a legal state (made that way by a voter mandate). But there was a bill in the legislature to undo that. That bill failed to advance out of the 1st committee on a vote of 6-4 with 3 Republicans joining 3 Democrats to table the bill. This is noteworthy b/c it’s a prime example of something being a LOT harder to get rid of once people have it as all 3 of those Republican opposed legalization, BUT refused to go against the will of the people (and rightfully so).
Ohio: In weed update #1, I wrote: “Lawmakers have until May 3rd to approve a citizen-initiated recreational proposal or the issue will go before the voters this year. In lawsuit settlement last year that saw the issue dropped from the ballot, there was an agreement that a legalization bill would be introduced in 2023 to legalize marijuana. If the legislature did not pass the bill (and I’d be STUNNED if they did), the folks that are pushing for legalization could continue to collect signature (including the signatures that they collected in 2022) and push to have the issue on a 2023 special elections ballot. So there’s a decent chance that Ohio will be voting on legalization this year and early polling shows that the votes are there to get it done.” This is almost certainly coming down to a 2023 vote.
Oklahoma: In weed update #1, I wrote: “To me, this seems a repeat of Arizona last year where a well funded anti legalization campaign was run by Republican lawmakers with less than a month before the election turned the tide there. Add in the fact that marijuana legalization is the ONLY thing on the ballot and that means a very uncertain voter turnout. I’m hopeful, but will believe it when I see it.” And surely enough that’s exactly what happened. To be fair, the medical bill that they approved in 2018 was one of the most liberal in the country with NO LIMITS on the licences for growers. Oddly enough, organized crime moved in on that and used the no hassle growing to ship weed to states where it was illegal. There were some shootings this year between crime groups and that certainly soured public opinion. In fact, this wasn’t even close as 60% of voters voted no on it.
US Virgin Islands: An early win for the legalization crowd as the governor of the US Virgin Islands signed legalization into law in January. Not a state obviously, but like Los Vegas, this is a popular vacation spot where folks can try it out w/o risk and take that positive experience back home.
Virginia: In weed update #1, I wrote: “There’s no chance of a reversal on marijuana policy, it will be interesting to see what the Republicans do (if anything)for setting up the marketplace.” And that’s turned out to be true… Republicans have done nothing, so sales won’t be happening next year… but hey… at least it’s legal to have it and you can just run across the border to Maryland to get it.
Interesting things:
So the NBA is dropping testing for marijuana. That’s pretty huge IMHO.
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