Legalization Going Forward In 2020

Whether you’re a consumer of cannabis/CBD products, or actively working in the business, legalization efforts are something worth paying close attention to.

As different states begin to fully legalize or change their cannabis laws, new markets open up and new audiences suddenly enter the fray. In addition, as legal markets expand, even people who don’t have access to cannabis are beginning to educate themselves and get involved in legalization efforts.

CBD products, for example, are being discussed among other top supplements. 2020 could pose to be a milestone year for legalization for several reasons. Here’s what to expect.

Federal Developments

Let’s begin by talking about federal legalization efforts and predictions for 2020. While individual states are passing laws that allow legalization, federally, it’s still considered a controlled substance. However, several steps are taking place that could allow a platform for a blanket federal legalization in 2020.

For one thing, we’re seeing a lot of growing protection for businesses and programs supporting the cannabis industry. For example, this year, the House Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill to protect banks that service cannabis businesses.

The market has had issues with banking problems, but even though this is a milestone, it will be only temporary, lasting until the next fiscal year.

Medical marijuana, which has shown a sizable increase in approval compared to recreational use, also experienced some legal steps forward, with protections added to a spending bill passed into law.

This will keep the Department of Justice from using federal funds to meddle with any programs in states that have legalized.

Of course, we can’t talk about federal developments in regards to legalization without addressing the elephant in the room, that being the presidential election. Marijuana legalization has grown to become a key topic of discussion on the campaign trail.

Almost all of the Democratic candidates have expressed some form of support for marijuana legalization, as well as social justice platforms to accompany them. This includes candidates like Kamala Harris that have expressed otherwise in the past.

The one major exception is Joe Biden, who has favored decriminalization bills, but not necessarily legalization. Biden also supports changing cannabis to a Schedule II drug, which would allow for scientific research.

What would happen in the event of a Trump reelection? It’s not entirely clear. In 2018, Trump publicly expressed support of making marijuana legalization a state issue. However, he and his administration have made many strides against legalization since then, so a federal change isn’t likely.

With that being said, as more and more candidates are tying marijuana legalization into other hot-button issues, the discussion is only likely to get larger.

In addition, as these developments show, the government is beginning to give some provisions for cannabis, no matter what the administration is.

What States May Legalize Next?

While we’ll likely have to see 2020’s presidential results to get a true idea of what awaits legalization at the federal level, it’s also important to follow individual state efforts as well.

Currently 11 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational adult use. 33 states allow for patients that qualify to use medicinal marijuana. As a side note, CBD products and hemp are legal everywhere after the recent Farm Bill.

Before getting into future potential legalization, we should talk about the one state that legalized cannabis in 2019, Illinois. There are a few details about Illinois’s legalization that bear mentioning.

● Illinois is the second-largest state to legalize cannabis up to this point, behind California

● Illinois passed this through its legislature, approving a commercial system. This is the first state ever to legalize this way. Most states do it as a referendum during an election year. Vermont only approved home possession through its legislature.

● Criminal records for past low-level offenders will be expunged, and a portion of tax revenue from marijuana will be allocated towards low-income communities. This is similar to social justice programs that accompany most state legalization plans.

Regardless of outcomes at the federal level, we could see more states legalized cannabis in 2020. Here are a few of the most likely candidates, based on what we know.

New York/ New Jersey: We link these two states together because their stories are very similar. Both were earmarked as the most likely states to legalize in 2019.

Both have passed strong decriminalization bills, but ultimate legalization talks stalled out due to disagreements on implementation and social justice initiatives.

Both states are likely to try and get it as a ballot measure for the 2020 election. With a mostly Democratic legislature and a pro-marijuana governor, New Jersey may have the edge.

Arizona: Notably, Arizona only missed the mark for legalization in 2016 by two percentage points on the ballot. Notably, both California and Oregon initially failed the first time they legalized, but it passed on the second attempt. We may see a similar story here.

Ohio: Ohio was initially scheduled to have a state referendum this year, but the deadline has already passed for it to be finalized. We may see if things change for next year.

Florida: Florida is notable because it’s medicinal marijuana legalization and implementation has proven to be a big success so far. It’s only natural that attention, in this case, would turn to a potential recreational adult-use legalization as well.

Nebraska/ Mississippi: These two states are notable because they have both made strides to put legalization referendums on the ballot in 2020. However, some experts question how likely they are to pass given the states’ voting history.

It bears mentioning with all of this is that nothing is set in stone. Positions may change and negotiations may stall. What’s a bit more concrete is that we see more and more mainstream interest in CBD and cannabis products both for recreational use as well as medical purposes like pain relief. This external pressure may give legalization efforts more power in the year to come.

What are you thoughts on Legalization going forward in 2020?

Laura Reid – author

Laura Reid is a freelance writer with a focus on Cannabis and CBD. She lives in Toronto

laurareid.writer@gmail.com or check her out on Twitter