State lawmakers have advanced several priority bills to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk and a few more remain pending but are up against a tight timeline. The legislative session in California ends on August 31st. Any bills not transmitted to the Governor will die after that date. (Once advanced to the Governor, he has 30 days to act on the bills.)
Before a single ballot has been cast in the 2022 midterm elections on a single marijuana ballot measure, prohibitionists funded by dark money special interests are doing everything they can in an attempt to crush legalization attempts in several states before voters ever get a say.
Advocates expressed hope that lawmakers may take up the issue in 2023 now that about a half million Nebraskans have signed petitions over the past few years in favor of it. “I hope the elected officials are paying attention. They have the power to do something.”
Regulators and other concerned parties should seek to provide the public with more comprehensive safety information about the effects of more potent products, and they should continue to ensure that legal products do not get diverted to the youth market. Such actions will ultimately be far more productive than calling for a return to the failures of marijuana prohibition.
Voters in several states and in dozens of cities and towns will decide on marijuana-related ballot measures in November. Here is an update of where these efforts currently stand in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Oklahoma, as well as cities in Colorado, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas.
“Regardless of intent, it is clear that the continued criminalization of cannabis perpetuates and exacerbates unequal enforcement under the law and the associated harms that come with it. This is not something that we can tolerate in the 21st century, and these findings should incentivize lawmakers to embrace sensible cannabis policy reforms.”
Today, we launch the initial rollout of NORML’s Smoke the Vote for the 2022 midterm elections!