It doesn’t matter which 7-decade old man with mental decline and decades in the American limelight wins the 2020 Election. The clear cut winner of last night was undoubtedly the supermajority of America’s favorite green plant. No, I don’t mean kale.
Cannabis with its equally controversial and profitable glory, swept up wins across the country in such a far-reaching and multi-faceted way. This is the beginning of major drug reform. Unlike previous years, when unsuccessful cannabis reform measures were on the proverbial table among countless other petitions and statewide initiatives, Texas Cannabis Collective is happy to report that every one of the cannabis or drug reform-related bills or up for a vote in the 2020 Election has PASSED.
Four states legalized for recreational purposes and one legalized for medical uses. The first and the least surprising, New Jersey’s Question 1 was all but a legal given. With 66 percent of the vote and the continuously stated support by Governor Phil Murphy since campaigning in 2017, the passing of Question 1 is certainly advantageous. Setting up bases of operations across the state, especially in Newark and Cherry Hill, will lead to profits unforeseen previously in the industry and tax revenue that would make any governor ecstatic.
Although Arizona did have more opposition on its 2020 measure and a loss with 2016’s Proposition 205, refreshing would be the descriptive feeling when America witnessed the passing of Proposition 207 with a 60 percent majority. As the newest western state to legalize recreationally, the state is in good company with neighboring states who’ve benefited from legal cannabis for years now. As a journalist who tries to remain objective, it’s pleasant to see that cannabis will be legal for adult use in the otherwise naturally beautiful state. Pleasant compared to the views of former Maricopa County Sheriff and convicted criminal Joe Arpaio. His views gave him the appearance of the most cartoonish version of a senile, overly compensating, rotten, corrupt cop. A man who showed vile abuse towards anyone he viewed as undesirable with a special hatred for drug users. An individual who confidently bragged about his “tent cities” being compared to a concentration camp.
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Now, here’s where my overall thesis of this report is coming in and it’s based entirely off the results of the sweeping cannabis bills throughout the country.
To my fellow cannabis advocates who lean more liberally or other left ways, it’s time to acknowledge and recognize both the tireless work and growing support for either recreational or medical cannabis among conservatives. And recognize those states and persons who lean more rightways on other issues.
Throughout my years in reporting on cannabis, I’ve interviewed several groups and individuals who lean more politically, fiscally and/or socially conservative. During the 2019 Texas Legislative Session when Lt. Governor Patrick raged and sadistically tortured the cannabis legislation that rightfully passed out of the House of Representatives, I spoke with a young conservative coalition, Houston Young Republicans, who spoke highly in favor of cannabis reform in both Houston and Texas. Texas’ endless number of veteran cannabis activists that I’ve had the honor to speak with who fight proudly and powerfully for cannabis reform, certainly don’t subscribe to various levels of left-leaning political alignments.
Some are Trump supporters, some attend church every Sunday, are the strongest 2nd Amendment supporters you’ll meet. Others view Ronald Reagan as among America’s best presidents and fly their American flags out the back of their F-150’s while blasting the classics of George Strait and Willie Nelson.
Founder of Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition and possibly the most badass octogenarian cannabis advocate in Texas, Ann Lee is ardently pro-life. Involved in the Republican Party since 1970, Lee served as Precinct Chair of the Harris County Republican Party from that year until 1992. Yet, in a brilliant video with NowThis, she recalls the experience of her son and Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee’s paralyzing accident and explains that you can’t be pro-life and anti-medical cannabis. A prohibition against a plant that undoubtedly helps people medically and improves their quality of life in a way that pharmaceuticals clearly don’t, contradicts what it means to be pro-life.
In relation to American conservatism, Lee explains how cannabis prohibition goes against the cornerstone values that arguably serve as the principles of American conservatism itself.
“As a conservative, we believe in smaller government and prohibition explodes the size of government. We believe in fiscal responsibility and the money that we have spent on this drug war is awful. And the last one is individual responsibility, and so why can’t a person use the medicine that they and their doctors think is best for them?”
Even more, Lee recognizes the clear racial disparities and disproportionate effects on minority communities caused by this never-ending yet catastrophically failing drug war.
While it’s inspiring to see conservatives with decades of experience in Republican activism become such strong advocates for the plant, it speaks blaring volumes when an entire state that votes as darkly red, as California does brightly blue, legalizes cannabis for either medical or completely recreational purposes.
And as such, that is precisely what occurred on three, and some would consider four depending on Arizona’s true shade of red, separate occasions during the 2020 Election Night.
Of the many thoughts and images that come up when one thinks about the naturally breathtaking state of Montana, it’s rare that one would associate the Big Sky Country with legal cannabis. But to the surprise of a decent portion of the country, the citizens of Montana approved I-190, which legalizes cannabis for adult use and the opening of dispensaries.
A state so red that they elected Republican Greg Gianforte to Congress. Elected, despite being convicted of assault in Montana for body slamming The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs who only asked the congressman a few questions. That state passed I-190 with a 56 percent majority, the exact same majority that the state voted for Trump in the 2020 election.
A state with a governor who’s even against the production of only industrial hemp, South Dakota made cannabis legalization history. SD simultaneously passed the recreational Amendment A and the medical bill of Measure 26 on the same night. Never, have both medical and recreational both passed within the same state on the same night previously. A state as rural and not 420-associated as South Dakota serving as the recipient of this unique honor is quite surprising.
Despite the best and far less funded efforts of anti-cannabis groups and Governor Kristi Noem’s claims that she’s “never met someone who got smarter from smoking pot”, it passed. Amendment A passed with a 54 percent majority and Measure 26 passed with a 70 percent majority. With both Montana and South Dakota, it’s painfully evident. Evident that even in the most heartland, rural red-leaning deeply landlocked states in the country far, cannabis support is still growing. This could lead to originality and innovation in the industry due to their remote locations.
The most shocking, possibly confusing but ultimately pleasant victory for cannabis occurred in the reddest state in the country, Mississippi. Crack jokes about the state all you wish, they have legalized medical cannabis. Without a more liberal and progressive Austin-like city, almost three-quarters of the voters of The Magnolia State voted in favor of Initiative 65. Governor Reeves described the measure as a “liberal” ballot being driven by stoners. I’ll go ahead and make the safe bet that 75 percent of the voters in Mississippi aren’t ultra woke liberals and certainly wouldn’t consider themselves as stoners. These voters can, however, luckily see when their residents need medicinal help and the only form is a plant that was until recently, extremely prohibited. And Mississippians are in luck, as I-65 has 22 qualifying conditions in total, so the program will be comprehensive.
In conclusion, it’s time that my fellow cannabis advocates who may lean more leftward politically to acknowledge, respect and most importantly, admire the courageous dedication and support for cannabis reform and legalization among conservative constituents. Mostly gone are the ancient days of Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Gone are the days when conservatives/Republicans had to stand as a monolith on the subject of cannabis reform whatsoever. And vitally, the days when conservative voters were bound by party loyalty or group thought to not have the ability to openly discuss cannabis in the slightest, are leaving.
The future of continued large-scale reforms and a robust industry with endless products that serve at its best can only be completed in a bi-partisan manner. This means that conservatives need to co-exist and work with liberals in the same fashion that liberals will need to learn to coexist and work with those cannabis advocates.