Voters in Maryland and Missouri voted to legalize recreational marijuana in Tuesday\u2019s midterm elections, bringing the total number of states that have legalized cannabis for use by adults to 21. Ballot measures to legalize marijuana failed to win a majority of votes in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota, however, with voters in those states instead opting to maintain nearly a century of cannabis prohibition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Maryland, voters approved Question 4, a referendum that amends the state constitution to legalize marijuana and directs the state legislature to pass legislation to regulate commercial cannabis activity. With 82% of the votes counted on Wednesday afternoon, Question 4 was on its way to approval with nearly two-thirds (65.5%) of the vote,\u00a0according to data<\/a>\u00a0from The New York Times. Troy Datcher, the CEO of California-based The Parent Company (TPCO), said that he is encouraged by the passage of Question 4 in Maryland, noting that the measure mandates expungement for eligible cannabis convictions and includes resentencing provisions for other offenses. He also noted the high level of support for legalization in the state. In July, TPCO, the home of Jay-Z\u2019s luxury cannabis brand Monogram, announced that it would be entering Maryland\u2019s medical marijuana market through a partnership with Curio Wellness.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that Question 4 garnered more support than any adult-use cannabis ballot measure in the country\u2019s history speaks to the shared support that Americans of all political stripes have for moving past the unjust cannabis laws that have criminalized Americans for nearly a century,\u201d Datcher said in an email to Cannabis Now. \u201cTuesday\u2019s vote also reflects the massive potential of adult-use legalization to stimulate Maryland\u2019s economy, creating tens of thousands of new jobs for its residents and generating considerable tax revenue for the state.\u201d<\/p>\n In Missouri, Amendment 3 was projected to be approved by voters, tallying more than 53% of the votes on Wednesday afternoon with 89% of ballots counted. The successful amendment to the state\u2019s constitution legalizes the possession, use, sale and delivery of marijuana for personal use and sets a 6% tax on commercial cannabis sales. Additionally, the amendment includes provisions for the expungement of certain marijuana-related convictions. Jeffrey M. Zucker, vice chair of the Marijuana Policy Project board of directors and president of the consulting company Green Lion Partners, praised the work of activists who campaigned to make legal recreational marijuana part of the state\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is an exciting time for the people of Missouri as their state legalizes adult-use cannabis,\u201d Zucker said in an emailed statement. \u201cI am in awe of the hard work that cannabis activists have done in Missouri, and I look forward to seeing how both established medical marijuana dispensaries and new players in Missouri\u2019s regulated cannabis industry grow and begin to thrive over the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n With the approval of the cannabis legalization measures, Maryland and Missouri have become the 20th and 21st states to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. Mason Tvert, communications adviser for the cannabis and psychedelics law firm Vicente Sederberg LLC, noted that in addition to ending the criminalization of cannabis, the successful ballot measures in Maryland and Missouri will spur economic development and create new jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cWith legal cannabis in these two states comes new economic opportunity. Expansion of the regulated cannabis market will result in new businesses, more jobs, and significant tax revenue,\u201d Tvert wrote in an email. \u201cThere is still plenty of work to be done when it comes to implementing the new law and ironing out all the rules. Marijuana-related policy discussions will become the new norm in state and local governments, much like we see with alcohol. Ending prohibition is just the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the strong showing for cannabis policy reform in Maryland and Missouri, voters in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota rejected ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana. Arkansas voters said no to Issue 4, with more than 56% of the electorate voting against the measure. In South Dakota, cannabis legalization initiative Measure 27 only garnered 47% of votes, with 53% voting against it. And in North Dakota, where voters approved a 2020 ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana that was invalidated by the state Supreme Court, voters declined to repeat their previous approval of reform. Measure 2, which would have legalized the possession and use of cannabis for adults, received the approval of 45% of voters, with nearly 55% voting against the measure.<\/p>\n Although marijuana legalization measures were only on the ballot in five states on Tuesday, other races in this week\u2019s midterm elections are likely to foster progress on cannabis policy reform efforts. In Minnesota, control of the state Senate was won by Democrats, giving the party control of both houses of the legislature and the governor\u2019s office. With the new majority in the Senate, lawmakers are likely to advance legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis,\u00a0according to a report<\/a> from Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are excited about the prospects for full legalization, but Minnesotans who want to see legalization will still have work to do,\u201d said Maren Schroeder, coalition director for the MNisReady Coalition. \u201cWe\u2019re optimistic that we\u2019ll get it across the finish line in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n In Pennsylvania, voters elevated\u00a0Lt. Gov. John Fetterman<\/a>, an outspoken advocate of cannabis policy reform, to the US Senate, where he will be a new voice for progress on the issue at the federal level. Voters also selected fellow Democrat Josh Shapiro as governor over Republican Douglas Mastriano, who characterized recreational marijuana legalization as a \u201cstupid idea,\u201d\u00a0according to a report<\/a>\u00a0from Marijuana Moment. Tracey Kauffman, founder and chairperson of cannabis consulting firm Cannaspire, says that the results in her home state of Pennsylvania indicate a willingness among voters to support candidates who are in favor of cannabis policy reform.<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday was a huge victory for cannabis in Pennsylvania. Both John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro support legalizing adult-use cannabis and expungement, so hopefully we will see swift changes in our state,\u201d Kauffman wrote in an email. \u201cI would like to see a cannabis task force organized so we can analyze key learnings from how our neighbors in New York and New Jersey have approached legalization and translate them into what will be successful in Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) lauded the approval of cannabis legalization measures in Tuesday\u2019s election, noting in a statement on Wednesday that in addition to the successes in Maryland and Missouri, marijuana decriminalization measures were passed by voters in several cities located in states that maintain prohibitions on adult-use cannabis, including Texas and Ohio.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile this year\u2019s mid-term elections may not have been a \u2018clean sweep\u2019 for reform advocates, our momentum continues unabated,\u201d NORML deputy director Paul Armentano\u00a0said in a statement<\/a>\u00a0from the advocacy group. \u201cAre we in a stronger place today than we were yesterday? Of course we are. Two more states, Maryland and Missouri, have wisely elected to legalize and regulate cannabis \u2014 policies that will expand the freedoms and civil liberties of over 7 million Americans. In addition, voters in cities across this country \u2014 including over 400,000 Texans \u2014 acted to end the senseless and counterproductive policy of arresting and prosecuting those who possess and use cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Breaking: Maryland and Missouri Vote to Legalize Cannabis<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Voters in Maryland and Missouri voted to legalize recreational marijuana in Tuesday\u2019s midterm elections, bringing the total number of states that have legalized cannabis for use by adults to 21. Ballot measures to legalize marijuana failed to win a majority of votes in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota, however,Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16566,363,16589,1008,50,5290,16590,65,1536,443,16591,884,1576,146,596,81,708,356,1577],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57847,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57846\/revisions\/57847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Missouri Voters Say Yes To Legalization<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Three States Decline To Legalize Weed<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Other Races Bode Well For Continued Reform<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Breaking: Maryland and Missouri Vote to Legalize Cannabis<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"