Oklahoma just went to the polls to reject recreational marijuana, showing a change of pace in the previously rapidly accelerating cannabis legalization movement.
For over a decade, legalization proponents have had nothing but good luck. At this point, 30% of the nation’s population is allowed to legally smoke marijuana. In elections where marijuana was on the ballot, before 2022, advocates would win about three quarters of the states where legalization was on their ballot. The traction seemed to be positive.
But in 2022, where marijuana legalization was on the ballot in five states, three states rejected it, dealing the first blow of momentum, perhaps ever, to advocates.
Things went from bad to worse when over 60% of Oklahomans rejected recreational cannabis. This is after the state has had a robust medical marijuana program for over half a decade.
Advocates can take some solace. In Arizona and Missouri, for example, both states previously rejected attempts to legalize the drug. But a handful of years later, voters in both states handily supported the legalization effort.
However, the Vice President at Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an anti-legalization organization, told Time Magazine that this vote gives his group a new direction. They can now pursue the repeal of leglization in states where it has passed. They have a powerful ally in Oklahoma Senator James Lankford.
The Vice President of the org brings up the success of regulating tobacco. Think the menthol ban in Canada, California, Minneapolis, and other progressive cities across the nation. Public housing and civil liberties advocates have been against the menthol ban, saying it targets the civil liberties of poorer Americans, who enjoy menthol more than wealthier ones.
Ohio is the next state to get cannabis on the ballot. They rejected it last time in 2015, but oddly enough, Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees fame, wanted to corner the market and largely spearheaded the movements. Voters cited lack of equity for marijuana sellers and too much of a monopoly for allowed legalization. This newest effort is free of the boy band wonder, so advocates might see some success.
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