Democratic strategists see opportunities to attract Florida voters to the party’s candidates now that constitutional amendment initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana and guarantee broader abortion rights have qualified for the ballot. The Florida Supreme Court announced on April 1 that Amendment 3 to legalize adult-use cannabis and Amendment 4 to protect abortion rights had fulfilled state requirements and would appear on the ballot for this fall’s presidential general election.

If passed, Amendment 3 would legalize cannabis for adults aged 21 and older and allow Florida’s existing licensed medical marijuana retailers to begin serving all adult consumers. Amendment 4 says that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider,” with an exception for laws that require parental notification when minors get abortions. If passed, the amendment would effectively nullify a separate Supreme Court ruling issued last week that upheld the state’s 15-week limit on abortion and set the stage for approval of a six-week limit.

With 30 electoral votes, both the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns eye Florida as a significant step on the path to victory in November. Democratic strategists see the addition of Amendment 3 and Amendment 4 to the November ballot as an opportunity to attract young voters, who tend to support abortion rights and cannabis policy reform.

“Both abortion and marijuana legalization are highly resonate with young people, which is a key demographic that the president has got to turn out,” Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the grassroots progressive group Our Revolution, told The Hill. 

Biden Campaign Eyes Florida

On Monday, the Biden campaign released a memo indicating it would invest heavily in Trump’s home state of Florida, saying the policies of the former president and the Republican Party are “making Floridians’ lives worse.” Four years ago, Trump won the Sunshine State with 51% of the vote, while Biden took 48% of the vote.

Julie Chávez Rodríguez, the campaign manager for Biden’s reelection bid, said that the campaign is running ads in Florida targeting young voters and other demographic groups including Black and Hispanic voters. 

“Make no mistake: Florida is not an easy state to win, but it is a winnable one for President Biden, especially given Trump’s weak, cash-strapped campaign, and serious vulnerabilities within his coalition,” she said in the memo.

To win the state, the Biden campaign will have to have a strong showing from Democratic-leaning voting blocks including Black voters and young adults. Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party and an ally of the medical cannabis industry while serving as the state’s commissioner of agriculture, said she has already observed increased enthusiasm among young voters since the court rulings last week.

“Just based purely on watching social media in the last 24 hours, the youth vote is excited about the opportunity to be voting on cannabis and abortion in November,” she said.

Michael Starr Hopkins has experience running Democratic campaigns in Florida, serving as senior advisor for former Congressman Charlie Crist’s unsuccessful bid for governor of the state in 2022. As the country gears up for the November vote, the Democratic strategist sees the views of many Republicans as incompatible with those of most younger voters.

“Abortion and marijuana on the ballot could be an electoral earthquake for the youth vote in Florida. The GOP’s anti-choice, anti-cannabis stance isn’t just out of touch, it’s straight out of the stone age,” said Starr Hopkins. “Having these two hot-button issues front and center is going to turbocharge youth turnout, which is never a good thing for Republicans.”

Democrats See Success in Ohio and Alabama

Democrats see similarities between the situation developing in Florida this year with the 2023 race in Ohio. The ballot for that election included an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana and an amendment to enshrine the “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” with “reasonable limits” in the Ohio Constitution. Propelled in part by a strong turnout of young voters, both ballot measures passed, handing Republican party leaders two losses in one fell swoop.

In Alabama late last month, Democrat Marilyn Lands won a special election for a state House seat after leaning into abortion rights and protecting in vitro fertilization (IVF) as issues for her campaign. Only weeks before, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen human embryos are legally people, leading to a halt of IVF services in the state, at least temporarily.

“Ballot initiatives can be game changing for campaigns. Just last week we saw a Democrat win a state house seat in Alabama focused on IVF, showing the power of the issue in a deep red state,” said Democratic strategist Andrea Riccio, co-founder of Velocity Partners. “With recreational marijuana use and abortion access on the ballot, the Biden campaign has a real opportunity to activate young voters and turn Florida blue.”

Currently, Trump has a 0.8 percentage point lead over Biden overall, according to The Hill and Decision Desk HQ’s aggregation of polls. With weed and abortion on the ballot in Florida, however, Democrats believe they can overcome the deficit in the state, securing its 30 electoral votes for Biden.

“If the GOP keeps underestimating the power of pissed-off young people, they’re in for a rude awakening at the ballot box. Florida could slip from their grasp as cash-strapped Republicans struggle to counter the surge of energized young voters,” said Starr Hopkins. “It’s a perfect storm that could spell disaster for the GOP’s chances in the Sunshine State.”

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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro this week called on state lawmakers to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana, saying “It’s time to catch up” with neighboring states that have already taken the step. The governor made his plea on Tuesday during an annual budget address to unveil a $48.3 billion spending plan for the state.

“I ask you to come together and send to my desk a bill that legalizes marijuana,” Shapiro told state lawmakers in his address. “But that bill should ensure the industry is regulated and taxed responsibly.”

Although the Democratic governor’s budget proposal does not include a specific cannabis legalization plan, it does call on lawmakers to pass a 20% tax on recreational marijuana. The proposal assumes a January 2025 start date for adult-use cannabis sales and estimates that the state would bring in $14.8 million in tax revenue during the first year. Shapiro added that he expects Pennsylvania’s taxes on recreational marijuana to increase to approximately $250 million per year once the regulated industry is firmly established.

“We’re losing out on an industry that, once fully implemented, would bring in more than $250 million in annual revenue,” Shapiro said. “And our failure to legalize and regulate this only fuels the black market and drains much-needed resources for law enforcement. It’s time to catch up.”

In a written explanation of the $48.3 billion state budget, Shapiro administration officials wrote that some tax revenue from the regulated adult-use cannabis industry should be used for “restorative justice initiatives” to address decades of inequities in the enforcement of marijuana prohibition laws. Among the initiatives, the governor specifically called on lawmakers to pass legislation to expunge the records of those convicted of possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Additional funds from the state’s adult-use cannabis program would go to the Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania State Police. The remaining revenue would be directed to the state’s general fund.

Most Pennsylvania Voters Support Legalizing Weed

In his address, the governor noted that legalizing adult-use cannabis is supported by a majority of Pennsylvania voters and that five out of six of the Keystone State’s neighbors have already ended the prohibition of marijuana for adults.

“Last year, 57 percent of voters in Ohio supported an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana,” Shapiro said. “And now, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland – practically all of our neighbors – have legalized marijuana.”

Ben Kovler, Founder, CEO and chairman at Green Thumb Industries, a multistate cannabis company that operates 18 RISE medical marijuana dispensaries in Pennsylvania, praised Shapiro’s plan to legalize adult-use cannabis.

“We applaud Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro for prioritizing adult-use cannabis legalization this year, including a clear, definitive launch date for sales. This call for change signals continued progress in the Northeast toward ending Prohibition 2.0 and the devastating impact it has inflicted on communities,” Kovler said in a statement to High Times. “The team at Green Thumb is ready to support the people of Pennsylvania on their journey to well-being by providing access to safe, high-quality cannabis.”

Pennsylvania legalized the medicinal use of cannabis in 2016 with the passage of the Medical Marijuana Act. Under the state program, patients with one or more specified serious medical conditions are allowed to purchase and use medical marijuana. Qualifying conditions for the use of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania include cancer, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, terminal illness and others.

A total of 134 licensed medical marijuana dispensaries were in operation as of last year, according to state data. Since the program’s inception, more than 1.3 million patients have been certified as medical marijuana patients in Pennsylvania, Spotlight PA reported in December.

Legalizing recreational marijuana is popular with some lawmakers in Pennsylvania, especially among Democrats. In December, Democratic Senator Sharif Street and Senator Camera Bartolotta, a Republican, introduced bipartisan legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis.

Getting the bill through the Pennsylvania Senate, however, may prove difficult. Senator Kim Ward, the Senate majority leader, has said she will not support the legalization of recreational marijuana until the federal government ends cannabis prohibition, according to a report from PA Spotlight.

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If the Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) recommendation to reschedule cannabis on the federal Controlled Substances Act becomes a reality, it could make an impact on President Joe Biden’s favorability ahead of the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

A new survey, conducted by Lake Research Partners, revealed a number of key findings surrounding registered voters and attitudes surrounding cannabis, namely that Biden could boost his favorability by 11% among younger voters should cannabis move from Schedule I to Schedule III.

To gather the data, researchers engaged 900 likely voters through phone calls and text-to-online outreach. The survey includes oversamples of younger voters and voters in presidential battleground states (100 voters aged 18-25 and 200 voters in battleground states, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin).

A Look at Voter Opinions on Cannabis Rescheduling

The survey looked more generally at the support behind rescheduling cannabis, with 58% of participants showing support and 19% opposed. Researchers said that support also crossed most demographic lines, and no more than one-third of voters in any major subgroup was opposed to rescheduling. Young voters, those aged 18-25, showed the strongest levels of support for rescheduling at 65%, with nearly half indicating they felt strongly about the issue. Support was strong across age demographics, with seniors showing support by a double-digit margin.

Democrats and independents also showed strong support (74% to 7% and 55% to 15%, respectively), while Republicans were more divided (41% to 31%) despite showing more support overall. The survey also found that younger Republicans and Republican women were disproportionately more supportive.

Two-thirds (66%) of voters also said that Biden should accept the recommendation, with young voters 18-25 showing overwhelming support (84% with 77% indicating they felt strongly about their answer). 

Researchers also found that attacking rescheduling didn’t sway voters, despite the fact that “no punches were pulled” in articulating the opposing viewpoints. These include the rescheduling proposal being a “half measure,” comparing cannabis regulation unfavorably to regulating alcohol, the argument that it will provide “massive profits to pharmaceutical companies” while resulting in “hundreds of thousands of Americans behind bars for marijuana-related offenses).

After reviewing opposing arguments for rescheduling cannabis, 58% voters continued to support rescheduling while 18% opposed. Support among young voters remained strong, with 66% behind rescheduling including 50% with strong support.

A Potential Boost for Biden?

“By the end of the poll, impressions of Biden improve by a net double-digits — an 11-point swing overall, including a double-digit (+11-point) swing among younger voters,” the survey notes. 

“In conclusion, rescheduling cannabis is not only the right move from a policy perspective, it is also politically helpful,” the survey concludes. “Nowhere is this more true than for younger voters—one of the most cross-pressured groups of voters, and also the most sanguine about rescheduling.”

Concrete talks of rescheduling cannabis first began in Oct. 2022, when Biden made a statement asking the secretary of HHS and the attorney general to review the scheduling of cannabis under federal law. In Aug. 2023, the HHS submitted its recommendation to the DEA to reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also recently said they support reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule III substance, which would make medical cannabis and the research supporting it federally legal but still heavily regulated.

The DEA has final authority to schedule, reschedule or deschedule a drug under the DEA and is currently conducting its review. However, there is currently no specific timeframe on when the DEA will make its decision.

Researchers also note that the findings of the survey align with a recent Gallup poll, which found that support for legal cannabis hit a record high of 70% among all adults in the U.S. Namely, they highlight that the poll found the highest levels of support in the youngest age cohort, with 78% of the 18-34 age group supporting legalization.

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A group of Democratic lawmakers has written a letter to federal financial regulators calling on them to update rules that hinder cannabis business owners with past convictions for marijuana-related crimes. In the letter to the Treasury Department, 20 Democratic Senators and members of the House of Representatives wrote that the proposed change “would be an important step to promote fairness in the provision of financial services to marijuana businesses that participate in state-sanctioned marijuana activity.”

Under current guidance from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) first issued in 2014, banks and credit unions are asked to consider a business owner’s past marijuana-related convictions as “red flags” that could affect the business’s eligibility for loans and other financial services. The guidance does not include exceptions for businesses that are operating in compliance with state law in states that have legalized cannabis.

In their letter dated November 14, the Democratic lawmakers say the federal guidance is unfair and fails to account for the legalization of cannabis at the state level. They note that the policy could cause a business operated by someone with a marijuana possession conviction to be ineligible for financing, despite efforts in some states to expunge past convictions. 

“Under this red flag guidance, a marijuana business owner with a marijuana conviction may be permitted to participate in a state licensing program on paper, but in practice may be unable to access a bank loan to grow her business because she is considered a high-risk customer,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

The letter was addressed to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki. It was signed by Congressional Democrats including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith of Minnesota, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch of Vermont and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. 

The letter was also signed by members of the House, including Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Val Hoyle of Oregon, Barbara Lee and Katie Porter of California, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C. and Becca Balint of Vermont.

Current Policy Continues Disproportionate Harm of Prohibition

The lawmakers noted in their letter that the current policy “disproportionately harms Black- and Brown-owned businesses, whose owners are more likely to have a marijuana-related conviction, though they are not more likely to have violated marijuana use laws.” They asked that FinCEN update its guidance to reflect the changing cannabis policy at the state level, calling for those who have been pardoned or convicted of an act that is no longer a state crime to have full access to financial services without receiving a red flag from their bank or credit union.

“The updated guidance should clarify that if a marijuana-related act has been expunged, pardoned, is no longer illegal under state law, or is not disqualifying for obtaining a state marijuana license or permit (i.e. ‘state-sanctioned marijuana activity’), then financial institutions should not consider that offense a ‘red flag’ when conducting customer due diligence of marijuana businesses,” the lawmakers wrote.

“This would be an important step to promote fairness in the provision of financial services to marijuana businesses that participate in state-sanctioned marijuana activity,” the letter continues.

Cannabis Industry Applauds Proposed Policy Change

The letter seeking an end to red flag designations for cannabis business owners with previous weed-related convictions was welcomed by representatives of the regulated marijuana industry. Bri Padilla, executive director of The Chamber of Cannabis, said that “we wholeheartedly support the proposed policy changes to current Treasury Department guidance.”

“With legal cannabis markets in 38 states, it is safe to say that the guidance is not only outdated, it actively hinders the ability of cannabis licensees, especially minority-owned operators and small business owners to engage in and effectively participate in the cannabis economy,” Padilla said in a statement from the industry group to High Times. “Such a shift will be a small but critical step in rectifying the disproportionate impact on communities of color due to past cannabis-related convictions.”

Jeffrey M. Zucker, co-founder and president of Denver-based cannabis industry consulting firm Green Lion Partners, said that if adopted, the proposed policy change would be another milestone in the federal government’s slow evolution on cannabis policy, which got a boost earlier this year when the Department of Health and Human Services called on the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana under federal drug laws.

“By acknowledging state laws that have legalized recreational marijuana, the federal government could align its guidance with the evolving landscape of cannabis legalization,” Zucker wrote in an email. “Federal commentary may encourage further investment and participation in the industry, driving economic growth and job creation.”

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AOC is doing what we love her best for: calling out the old-guard Democrats. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic Representative from New York, says she’s worried that President Joe Biden may derail bipartisan efforts to address psychedelics due to his past conservative comments about cannabis usage, Business Insider reports. 

“I believe the president has displayed a regressiveness for cannabis policy,” she said, making it clear that she has concerns about Biden’s approach to cannabis and psychedelics. “And if there’s a regressiveness toward cannabis policy, it’s likely to be worse on anything else,” AOC added. 

Cannabis and “classical” psychedelics, such as LSD and psilocybin, have been gaining the American people’s public acceptance. In June, a study found that Americans say cannabis is much less dangerous than opioids, alcohol, and cigarettes. 

Recently, during an interview with The Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM Wednesday, the president’s brother, Frank Biden, shared that the president might be down with psychedelics. “He is very open-minded,” Frank Biden responded when asked by Smerconish about discussions with his presidential brother about the medical benefits of psychedelics.” 

In 2022, Biden announced that he will pardon people with federal convictions for simple possession of cannabis. The president also announced that he will direct the U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to begin the process of reviewing the classification of cannabis at the federal level.

And, in late June, the FDA issued the first-ever guidance for psychedelic clinical studies. They filed the 14-page document following Congress-introduced bipartisan legislation led by Texas Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw, directing the issuance of clinical trial guidelines. 

However, this hasn’t convinced AOC that President Biden, the leader of the federal government, is committed to honoring the public’s changing viewpoints based on how he has talked about marijuana in the past. “I am concerned about the president,” Ocasio-Cortez of New York told The Washington Post. 

And she’s not wrong to question his flip-flopping policy. Back during the 2020 election, Leafly pointed out that Biden was the only Democratic presidential candidate that was against federal legalization. Only a few years ago, in 2019, Biden said cannabis could be a “gateway drug,” one of the foulest expressions in the English language to the cannabis connoisseur. 

“The truth of the matter is, there’s not nearly been enough evidence that has been acquired as to whether or not it is a gateway drug,” the then-presidential hopeful said during a town hall event. “It’s a debate, and I want a lot more before I legalize it nationally. I want to make sure we know a lot more about the science behind it.”

However, once Biden realized it was only him and Donald Trump against federal legalization, he quickly changed his tune. Since entering office, he has kept a safe distance from drug policy but, as mentioned, has stated that federal legalization is in the future. However, Ocasio-Cortez says other lawmakers’ reactions regarding pro-psychedelic legislation tells another story. 

According to AOC, when she first introduced the legislation, an unnamed senior member of her party laughed at her. “Oh, is this your little ‘shrooms bill?’” Ocasio-Cortez said the lawmaker told her. She and Crenshaw added amendments that would increase access to psychedelic treatments for veterans and active-duty service members with mental health conditions, which were tacked on to the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, who recently proposed ending drug testing for the military, says the congressional “gerontocracy” is why lawmakers of both parties (the psychedelic movement is a surprisingly bipartisan effort), in line with AOC’s observation that politicians like Biden, are stuck in regressive viewpoints. 

However, even if Biden came off as anti-cannabis just four years ago, and even if that’s how he feels, given recent activity, it’s clear that he’s realized that if the president wants to stay in the game, he must embrace cannabis and psychedelics as valid medicines. Most folks in the movement would take federal deregulation, even if it comes from lawmakers’ efforts to look cool rather than what lives in their hearts. 

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday unveiled his proposed budget for the state, which included a plan to levy a tax on marijuana sales.

The sale of cannabis is, notably, still illegal in Pennsylvania. 

But Shapiro’s proposal is a nod toward a weed-friendly feature in the Keystone State.

The first-term governor’s budget “proposes an adult use cannabis tax that would be imposed on the wholesale price of products sold through the regulated framework of the production and sales system, once legalized.” 

“The proposed rate is 20 percent of the wholesale price of cannabis products sold through the regulated framework,” the budget reads.

The proposal includes an estimate that “sales would commence January 1, 2025, with initial revenue collections realized in 2024-25.”

But as the Philadelphia Inquirer noted, Shapiro’s budget “does not include any proposed policy changes in the budget.”

According to the Inquirer, Shapiro’s “proposal includes estimates that assume adult-use sales would begin in January 2025 and bring in about $16 million in tax revenue that year … [and] tax revenue [would] increase to $64.1 million in 2026, $132.6 million in 2027, and $188.8 million in 2028.”

Shaprio, who was elected as governor last year, and other Pennsylvania Democrats have made it known that they want to legalize marijuana in the state.

“Legalize marijuana. Regulate it. Tax it,” Shapiro said on Twitter in 2021.

He also emphasized the importance of any new cannabis law to include social equity provisions to right previous wrongs of the Drug War.

“But let me be clear: legalization must include expungement for those in jail or who have served time for possessing small amounts of marijuana,” Shapiro continued in the tweet. “Our Black & brown communities have been disproportionately impacted by this for far too long.” 

A pair of Pennsylvania lawmakers filed a memo earlier this year stating their desire to pass a cannabis legalization bill this year.

“It’s time to regulate and tax this major crop product in service of the health and well-being of Pennsylvanians,” state House Reps. Dan Frankel and Donna Bullock, both Democrats, said in the memo, which was released in January. “Soon we will be introducing legislation to do just that.”

Frankel and Bullock highlighted the ubiquity of cannabis use in Pennsylvania––both through the state’s established medical marijuana program, and the illicit market.

“Pennsylvanians are using cannabis,” they wrote in the memo. “Some of that cannabis is sold legally to patients through the medical cannabis program. Those products are regulated for safety and producers pay for the costs of managing the program.”

Cannabis is also sold illegally in Pennsylvania,” the lawmakers continued. “We have no idea what’s in it, how it was produced or where it comes from. We do know that it gets into the hands of young people, and we get no tax benefit to support our communities; meanwhile, the enforcement of our cannabis laws has not affected all communities equally – far from it. Although white people and people of color use cannabis about equally, black Pennsylvanians are about 3.5 times as likely to be arrested for cannabis use as their white counterparts, according to Pennsylvania State Police data compiled by NORML.”

They said that their proposal “will create a legal and regulatory framework structured to control and regulate the cultivation, processing, transportation, distribution, delivery and sale at retail of cannabis and cannabis products with the following central goals in mind: Consumer Safety; Social Justice; Economic Equity; Prevention of Substance Use Disorder; Revenue.” 

But the prospects for legalization in Pennsylvania remain unclear. 

“Since late last year, several lawmakers have filed memos about legalization proposals that give an idea of what an adult-use market could look like — though it’s unclear if or when a legalization bill will be passed,” the Inquirer reported.

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Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota have begun their push for marijuana legalization, with a bill clearing the first of many legislative hurdles this week. 

The bill “cleared the first of what may be up to a dozen committee hurdles when the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee approved” the measure “by a voice vote Wednesday and sent it to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee,” the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services department reported.

The bill would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, and would establish the regulatory framework for legal marijuana sales that would begin within months of the measure’s passage. 

It was introduced by Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives last week.

“Cannabis should not be illegal in Minnesota,” Democratic state House Rep. Zack Stephenson, one of the bill’s authors, said at a press conference announcing the legislation at the state capitol last week. “Minnesotans deserve the freedom and respect to make responsible decisions about cannabis themselves. Our current laws are doing more harm than good. State and local governments are spending millions enforcing laws that aren’t helping anyone.”

Stephenson and his fellow Democrats in St. Paul have long been eager to bring cannabis legalization to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but they have until now been stymied by Republican lawmakers.

But that changed after November’s elections, when Minnesota Democrats regained control of the state Senate and retained their majority in the state House of Representatives. 

The state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, also won re-election this past fall, and has been a vocal advocate for marijuana legalization in Minnesota.

“It’s time to legalize adult-use cannabis and expunge cannabis convictions in Minnesota. I’m ready to sign it into law,” Walz said in a tweet after Democrats introduced the legalization bill earlier this month.

At the committee meeting on Wednesday, Stephenson expressed confidence that the bill, buttressed by public support, would ultimately make it to Walz’s desk.

The news service recapped amendments that were considered at the committee meeting on Wednesday:

“The subject of local control — or lack thereof — was the subject of an amendment unsuccessfully offered by Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-Crown). It would have given cities or towns options to enact local ordinances regulating cannabis business licenses that could differ from those proposed statewide. Two other Republican amendments were adopted. One offered by Rep. Anne Neu Brindley (R-North Branch) would add a health warning for pregnant or breastfeeding women on cannabis products. And an amendment from Rep. Jeff Dotseth (R-Kettle River) would require the Office of Cannabis Management to study the health effects of secondhand cannabis smoke. Stephenson said the Dotseth amendment was a good idea, but noted his bill already would prohibit smoking cannabis in places where smoking is not allowed under the Clean Indoor Air Act.”

Polls have shown that Minnesota voters are ready to enter a post-prohibition era. 

The moves by state Democrats were foreshadowed by one of Minnesota’s best-known politicians, former Gov. Jesse Ventura, who said after the November elections that Walz had called him directly to say that legalization would get done.

“The sticking point for cannabis in Minnesota were Republicans in the (Senate),” Ventura said at the time. “Well, they lost it now, and the governor reassured me that one of the first items that will be passed — Minnesota, get ready — cannabis is going to have its prohibition lifted. That’s the news I got today.”

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A pair of Democratic state lawmakers in Tennessee this week introduced a bill to legalize both medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis in the state. The bill, known as the “Free All Cannabis for Tennesseans Act” (HB0085), was introduced in the House by Representative Bob Freeman—supported by fellow Democrat Senator Heidi Campbell—on Tuesday.

“This bill will support medical and recreational cannabis use because many other states already have recreational use,” Campbell said in a statement quoted by local media.

Bill Legalizes Possession Of Up To 60 Grams Of Weed

If passed, the bill would legalize the possession, use, and transportation of up to 60 grams of marijuana or up to 15 grams of cannabis concentrates for adults aged 21 and older. The measure also legalizes the home cultivation of up to 12 cannabis plants by adults in a secure location at home. Under the bill, parents and legal guardians would also be permitted to administer medical cannabis products to their minor children with a doctor’s authorization.

“It’s a full legalization of cannabis across the state,” Freeman noted in a statement last month.

The bill also legalizes commercial cannabis activity and tasks the Tennessee Department of Agriculture with drafting regulations to govern the cultivation, processing, and sale of cannabis and cannabis products in the state. The measure notes that more than three dozen states have legalized marijuana in some form and that Tennessee should follow suit “in order to remain competitive nationally and globally in the burgeoning cannabis industry.” The lawmakers also note that legal cannabis is readily available in five states that border Tennessee.

“If people can drive across the border to Indiana to get cannabis, then it doesn’t make any sense that we in Tennessee would be missing out on that economic advantage,” Campbell said.

Tennessee Still Prohibits All Marijuana

Tennessee is one of the few states that have yet to pass legislation to legalize marijuana, even for medicinal use. Freeman said that legalizing recreational marijuana would put an end to the disproportionate enforcement of laws that prohibit the possession and use of cannabis.

“If you live in a wealthy part of the state and a wealthy community in our city, and you get picked up using some cannabis for personal consumption, the odds of you getting a slap on the wrist and nothing happening is pretty high,” he said last month. If you live in a poorer neighborhood and you get picked up with cannabis, you’re going to jail.”

Legal Pot Available In Neighboring States

Three states bordering Tennessee—Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama—have legalized medical marijuana, while neighboring Missouri and Virginia have legalized both medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis. Proponents of legalization argue that Tennessee is missing out on tax revenue from the money residents spend on cannabis in neighboring states.

“Let’s not delude ourselves that people aren’t crossing the border and getting cannabis from other states. Of course they are,” Campbell said. “So, that’s just income we’re missing out on.”

Tennessee Democrats Support Legalization

Freeman and Campbell’s proposal is supported by fellow Democratic lawmakers in the Tennessee legislature. House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons praised the bill last month after they announced their plan to introduce the legislation.

“The legalization of cannabis in Tennessee is long overdue. For too long, much of the TN GOP has stood in the way,” Clemmons wrote in a tweet. “Let’s do this in 2023!”

Previous attempts to legalize marijuana in Tennessee have met stiff opposition from Republican lawmakers, who enjoy a solid majority in both the state Senate and the House of Representatives. Republican state Senator Richard Briggs said that he opposes both medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis, noting the federal law has already made CBD legal nationwide.

“I’m not in favor at all of recreational marijuana and I have a lot of concerns about medical marijuana until we know more about it,” Briggs said. “I don’t think that it should be generally available. And at least at this point until something changes.”

Despite Republican opposition, Freeman rates the chance that the Tennessee legislature will legalize marijuana this year as “a solid 7, 7.5,” on a scale of one to 10. But Campbell expressed far less optimism.

“Pretty low—I won’t give you a number,” she said, “but I have no delusions we’re going to pass it this session.”

But Campbell added that introducing the legislation is still important to keep the conversation about cannabis policy reform moving forward.

“We ran it last session, and I think it’s important to run it so that we keep the issue alive, we keep the messaging going,” she said. “Obviously, at some point, that’s going to happen, so we’re just going to keep knocking on that door until somebody opens it.”

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Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota wasted no time in their efforts to legalize recreational marijuana in the state this year, as they introduced a bill on Thursday that would do just that. 

The legislation, spanning 243 pages, “would set up a regulatory framework and permit cannabis use for any reason for people 21 and older,” according to Minnesota Public Radio, which noted that legal “marijuana sales and use would begin within months of passage of [the bill].”

“Cannabis should not be illegal in Minnesota,” Democratic state House Rep. Zack Stephenson, one of the bill’s authors, said at a press conference on Thursday at the state capitol in St. Paul, as quoted by Minnesota Public Radio. “Minnesotans deserve the freedom and respect to make responsible decisions about cannabis themselves. Our current laws are doing more harm than good. State and local governments are spending millions enforcing laws that aren’t helping anyone.”

Local news station WCCO reports that the proposal would “legalize the purchase, sale and use of recreational cannabis for Minnesotans 21 or older,” and would also “expunge low-level cannabis convictions, which Democrats say is an equity issue because Black residents are disproportionately arrested for possession, according to data from the ACLU.”

“We designed this bill to address the wrongs of prohibition, to bring people out of the illicit market and into a regulated market, which means that we tried to not have a really high tax on cannabis so that it can compete,” said Democratic state House Rep. Aisha Gomez, as quoted by Minnesota Public Radio.

Democrats there are bullish that this will be the year Minnesota joins the dozens of other states to end the prohibition on pot. 

“I believe 2023 will be the year we legalize adult-use cannabis,” Stephenson said at the press conference on Thursday, as quoted by WCCO.

Stephenson is right to be confident about the bill’s prospects. Democrats won back control of the state Senate in November’s elections and retained their majority in the state House. The state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, also secured re-election last year, and has long championed cannabis legalization. 

“It’s time to legalize adult-use cannabis and expunge cannabis convictions in Minnesota. I’m ready to sign it into law,” Walz said in a tweet on Thursday. 

The move by state Democrats on Thursday was telegraphed by one of Walz’s predecessors. 

Following the November elections, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura said that Walz pledged to him personally that Democrats would get legalization over the line in 2023. 

“The sticking point for cannabis in Minnesota were Republicans in the (Senate),” Ventura said, at the time. “Well, they lost it now, and the governor reassured me that one of the first items that will be passed — Minnesota, get ready — cannabis is going to have its prohibition lifted. That’s the news I got today.”

There is reason to believe that voters in the Land of 10,000 Lakes are ready for legalization, too.

A poll released in September found that 53% of voters in Minnesota support legalizing recreational pot use, while only 36% of voters there said they were opposed.

Minnesotans don’t have to wait for the bill’s passage to get a fix though. A law that took effect last summer authorized the sale of food and beverages containing a small amount of THC.

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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued another round of pardons last week, including 11 for individuals previously convicted of cannabis-related offenses.

Clemency has been a defining part of Evers’ gubernatorial tenure.

In May, Evers issued dozens to bring his total number of pardons to 498, with his office saying at the time that he had “granted more pardons during his first three years in office than any other governor in contemporary history.”

The first-term Democrat, who is up for re-election this year, granted another 49 pardons on Friday to bring his total up to 603.

“It is one of the most rewarding parts of my job as governor to have the opportunity to grant a fresh start to folks who’ve made efforts to learn and grow from their past mistakes,” said Evers. “Forgiveness is an important value I know we all share as Wisconsinites, and I’m grateful for the Pardon Advisory Board for continuing to prioritize this work, giving folks second chances so they can continue their work giving back.”  

As was the case in May, a number of last week’s pardon recipients had been previously busted on pot-related charges. The governor’s office provided brief descriptions of each of those individuals, and details of their offenses:

• “Cynthia Cook was 31 when she participated in selling marijuana to a confidential informant. A mother and caretaker, she now resides in Oconto Falls.”

• “Candace Davis was 40 when she sold a controlled substance to an informant and was subsequently found in possession of marijuana and controlled substances. Now 28 years later, she has maintained steady employment in Beloit, where she resides with her family.”

• “Deontae Hodges was 24 when he was found in possession of marijuana during a traffic stop. He resides in Milwaukee where he has maintained steady employment. The Court supports his pardon.”

• “Matthew Kasel was 20 when he purchased marijuana from an undercover officer. Now nearly two decades later, he owns an HVAC business and resides in Kaukauna with his family.”

• “Gerald Love was 27 when he was found in possession of marijuana. Since, he has earned his GED and CDL. He now resides in Milwaukee with his family.”

• “Leonard Maland was 25 when police caught him selling marijuana. Now, nearly three decades later, he drives trucks and owns a small mobile restaurant with his spouse in Eau Claire, where he now resides.”

• “Anthony Naber was not yet 20 when he sold marijuana to a confidential informant two decades ago. Residing in Wisconsin with his family, he has since obtained two associate degrees and volunteers in his community. The district attorney’s office supports his pardon.”

• “Matthew Raap was 18 years old when he sold marijuana and controlled substances to undercover officers. Now years later, he resides in Richfield where he has built a successful career in the cybersecurity field and volunteers to help incarcerated individuals receive their college degree. He received resounding community support for his pardon, including from both the Court and district attorney’s office.”

• “Jim Swanson was 25 when he sold marijuana to an undercover officer 28 years ago. He now resides in Ellsworth where he cares for his mother.”

• “Errick Weiser had marijuana growing on his property. He earned his bachelor’s degree and volunteers with his county’s fair board and the Wisconsin Parasite Museum. The district attorney’s office supports his pardon.”

• “Peter Wussow was in his 30s when he was mailed a package of marijuana, which he intended to sell with others. He has since built a career in welding and now resides in Oshkosh with his family.”

In addition to exercising his pardon power, Evers has also been a vocal champion of cannabis reform in the Badger State, repeatedly calling on lawmakers there to end the prohibition on pot.

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