“The sponsors of this year’s recall election are no friends of marijuana or criminal justice reform. Whatever else might be said about Gavin Newsom, no governor has been so supportive of legal marijuana,” California NORML said in an action alert.
Author: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Colorado NORML is urging voters to decide against Initiative #25, opining that excessive taxation on regulated marijuana products will drive consumers back to the illicit market. “This Ballot Initiative is an unnecessary tax burden,” Colorado NORML states in an action alert.
Forty-nine percent of respondents said that they have consumed cannabis – up from one-in-three Americans two decades ago. Twelve percent of respondents identify as current consumers of marijuana.
Authors collected data on the percentage of adults in each state who acknowledged having used cannabis within the last year. They then cross-referenced those percentages with the most recent population data from the U.S. Census Bureau to calculate the number of cannabis users per capita (per 100,000 residents) in each state.
A separate ordinance passed by the city clears the criminal records of those convicted of low-level marijuana possession offenses. It is estimated that some 10,000 residents will be granted blanket pardons under this action.
Under the expanded law, employers may not discriminate against authorized patients of medical cannabis in the recruitment, hiring, designation, or termination process or when imposing disciplinary actions.
This updated edition reviews over 450 peer-reviewed studies assessing the safety and efficacy of either whole-plant cannabis or cannabinoids for 23 different patient populations.
Researchers concluded, “We see no evidence that liberalized cannabis policies are directly associated with increased smoking behaviors among young adults.”