Marijuana Emerges As Big Winner In Election As Five States Vote To Legalize

If there was a clear winner that emerged from the highly contentious 2020 November 3^rd election, it was marijuana. Yesterday, all five states that had cannabis legalization measures on their ballots, passed overwhelmingly. Breaking it down, Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota legalized adult-use, with the latter also approving a medical initiative. Mississippi voters also jumped into the fray by supporting two medical cannabis initiatives. 

As a result of these wins, 15 states, which also includes D.C, now have legal adult-use markets while 36 (plus D.C.) have approved medical markets. This is a special victory for an industry in which businesses are still hampered by the banking ban caused by the federal illegality. These punitive restrictions have forced many cannabis businesses to operate as cash-only enterprises even if they subsist in a legal market. Then there are the many people who remain incarcerated indefinitely for nonviolent drug possession.

In a public statement, Aaron Smith, co-founder and CEO of the National Cannabis Industry Associate, the largest cannabis trade association in the U.S., hails these wins as they “will mean tens of thousands of fewer arrests and new jobs, much-needed tax revenue, and increased public safety.”

New Jersey’s cannabis legalization measure passed unsurprisingly in this traditionally blue state with 67 percent of the vote, said NCIA. This initiative makes cannabis legal for adults age 21 and older and “would require lawmakers to determine a regulatory structure as well as set limits for possession and home cultivation. Cannabis will be subject to the standard state sales tax, currently 6.625 percent, and the legislature may authorize municipal governments to institute up to an additional 2 percent in local taxes.”

Voters in South Dakota approved a medical cannabis initiative by 69.2 percent and a separate adult-use initiative by 53.4 percent, noted NCIA. The state’s Department of Revenue will decide on regulations and apply a 15 percent sales tax, with proceeds going to schools and the general fund. South Dakota is the first state to approve an adult use initiative or bill without a pre-existing medical cannabis system.

After narrowly defeating an adult-use bill in 2016, Arizona rebounded by voting for the current legalization measure. This initiative “will make possession of up to an ounce of cannabis flower and up to five grams of cannabis concentrate legal for adults aged 21 and older, and allows adults to grow up to six plants at home in an enclosed, locked area out of public view.” Also, retail licenses will be limited to no more than one per every 10 pharmacies in the state.

Social equity will also play an important role in Arizona’s newly legal adult-use market. In a news release, NCIA noted that the state’s Department of Health Services “will be required to promote business ownership and industry participation by people from communities that have been most harmed by prohibition, and a portion of cannabis tax revenue will be used to provide resources for a newly-created Justice Reinvestment Fund.”

An adult-use measure was approved in Montana by 56.9 percent of voters, along with a companion initiative that allows the legal age for cannabis to be set at 21 and older. As a result of the passage of the measure, adults will be able to possess up to an ounce of cannabis flower and up to eight grams of concentrate. They will also be able to cultivate up to four plants per person or eight per household. The Department of Revenue will determine regulations and only existing medical cannabis businesses will be able to participate in the adult-use market for the first 12 months the law is in effect. Sales tax will be set at 20 percent, with revenue going to environmental conservation, substance abuse services, local governments and the general fund.

Mississippi’s approved medical cannabis initiative will “allow qualified patients to purchase or possess up to two and a half ounces every 14 days but does not allow home cultivation.” The state’s Department of Health will oversee regulation and licensing.

Arcview Research, a top cannabis market researcher, said the estimated value of the combined cannabis markets of the five states that just passed legalization measures is expected to rack up more than $3.1 billion by 2025.