California Gov. Newsom Needs Cannabis To Nip Recall In The Bud

The cannabis industry in California is in big trouble. Four years after the passage of Proposition 64 (Prop 64), the voter initiative that legalized weed for all adults over 21, 75% of all cannabis transactions are still in the illicit market. Meanwhile, the legal market is a big fat mess of too much regulation, over-taxation, and ubiquitous local bans. It’s no secret that Prop 64 needs reform if the promise of safe, affordable, and widespread access to legal cannabis is to occur in the Golden State. 

Gavin Newsom is also in big trouble. His political adversaries have managed to put a recall effort on the ballot this November, when voters will decide if he gets to keep being governor of California. Recent approval polls have him below 50% for the first time in his tenure. Voters of all political stripes are angry about Covid-19 and the decay of California under one-party Democratic rule in Sacramento. According to them, nothing seems to work in this great state anymore; the governor will be held to account and the Democratic party may lose power if solutions are not implemented and quickly. There’s not much time between now and November. 

The Democrats cannot afford to lose Newsom without inflicting serious damage to the party and their ability to hold power. They’ll need every vote they can get, and the path of least resistance may be the cannabis vote. Prop 64 reform has the support of the public and the cannabis industry. Resources are available to implement the changes quickly and this will make companies profitable overnight. All of those workers, executives, investors, and stakeholders will vote to support Newsom if he can deliver. We have more leverage than when we passed Prop 64 because now there’s fear in the water. And fear can be a big driver in the art of politics and social change. 

The cannabis community must use this newfound leverage over Newsom and the Democrats to force them to reform Prop 64. It’s now in their interest to do so. They need our votes. It’s on us to keep turning up the heat until they enact reform. If not, the threat that we will support recall must be articulated loudly and widely so they hear us. This is not a popular or fun position to take—I like Newsom, but when it comes to reforming Prop 64, he simply has not been there for us. And now that adversaries are keeping score and forcing recall, it may be time for us to be more aggressive. 

Governor Newsom must be losing a lot of sleep as he ponders his political future and tries to figure out a way to get voters to reject recall and keep him in the job. It would be a shame to lose a talented progressive politician like Newsom to recall efforts, but his enemies are many and his decisions have not been the best, particularly with the cannabis industry. The legal framework of Prop 64 has enabled the illicit market to dominate in the state, disrupted small cannabis producers, empowered local NIMBYS to ban legal weed, and made the price of cannabis too high for consumers to buy legally. Newsom has let the cannabis community down during his tenure, as we’ve tried to work with him on frameworks we all know desperately need improving. 

For the last three legislative sessions, every effort to authentically reform Prop 64 has failed to get the votes needed in Sacramento, or the consistent support needed from the governor to unite his party and win those votes. Every cannabis activist and trade association has tried to talk some sense into these lawmakers. They have all failed, including me. And while our efforts have been fragmented, and lacked much cohesion and unity, what’s to be expected after 100 years of prohibition and imprisonment? 

These are not the training grounds for political sophistication, or the mastery of the nuances of what is possible. No doubt we’ve been clumsy in our efforts. And yet, when we needed elected officials to help us become more sophisticated, all they did was ask for donations to their campaigns. Only then could we really be taken seriously in a pay-to-play political environment not created by the cannabis community at all, but sustained and perpetrated by the two-party political system. 

If they can deliver authentic reform of Prop 64, we can all feel good about pulling the lever for Newsom and the Democrats once again. That’s the deal on the table. Newsom and the Democrats should take it so he can keep his job, and the cannabis industry can finally fulfill the promise of Prop 64 and implement the will of the voters once and for all.