Even though the vast majority of Americans now support cannabis legalization, there are some states where elected representatives are very actively working against it — sometimes using undemocratic methods, reports Forbes.
Technicality troubles
Just before a medical market designed to serve people with debilitating conditions could get up-and-running in Mississippi, the Republican mayor of Madison filed a lawsuit arguing that the signatures collected to pass Initiative 65 didn’t meet the constitutional standards. The state’s Supreme Court agreed, and overturned it.
In South Dakota, 54% of voters agreed with legalizing adult-use cannabis, but Republican (and MAGA favorite) Gov. Kristi Noem – asked the state highway patrol service to file a lawsuit to overturn it. The state’s Supreme Court is still deliberating. And in Nebraska, a petition for medical cannabis garnered enough signatures to put it on the ballot, but the Supreme Court again cited a technicality and said it wasn’t eligible.
(If you are interested in hearing more about South Dakota’s path forward, join us and the Cannabis Industry Association of South Dakota on June 3.)
Stubborn stigma
According to Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, conservative attitudes toward cannabis legalization among politicians are similar to those who opposed gay marriage.
“It’s no one’s business who you love, that’s the point of it,” he said. “And there are parallels to legal weed. You’ll always have some asshole who won’t bake a cake for a gay couple, or someone who will talk about Reefer Madness, but most people are saying: ‘Why aren’t we here? Why are we still talking about this?’”
