According to a report by a former federal drug official-led firm, with Ohio voting to legalize marijuana in the past week more than 50% of Americans now live in states that have ended the cannabis prohibition on adults. Nearly 75% live in jurisdictions that have legalized medical and recreational marijuana.
The report states that Ohio is the 24th state that has legalized adult use of cannabis. This builds on a strong state-level movement, which has seen 38 states and Washington, D.C. allowing medical access despite the fact “cannabis still remains illegal at federal level.”
This means that 53.1 percent (176,880943) of Americans live in states where cannabis is legal. U.S. Census figures show that when you include states that legalized medical marijuana, there are 245,960.583 Americans (or 73.8% of the total population) who live in states where prohibition has been reduced to some degree.
The firm Carnevale Associates–founded by John Carnevale, who previously served in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) over three presidential administrations–said public polling and recent elections “show ever-growing support for cannabis legalization.”
reports that “despite the wisdom of legalization”, the actions of state legislatures, governors and ballot initiatives indicate legalization will continue. Cannabis stakeholders need the tools and information they need to optimize state approaches to protect health and safety.
Erika Ostlie, president and CEO of Carnevale Associates, has also worked in federal government. She held positions at the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, State Department, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense.
A new Gallup survey found that a record 70% of Americans support the end of prohibition . This is despite the fact that 53 percent of Americans live in states where legalization has been implemented. This survey showed that the support for legalization was constant regardless of whether a person lived in an illegal or legal state.
To date, efforts by Congress to legalize cannabis on a federal level have been stalled. HHS has advised the Drug Enforcement Administration to move marijuana to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. However, this would not make it legal.
The Justice Department cannot use its funding to interfere with the implementation of medical cannabis programs in states. However, lawmakers have not extended these protections to adult-use legalization state. Bipartisan House members tried to include the expanded language in appropriations legislation during this session but were blocked by the Rules Committee.
Congressional lawmakers want updated marijuana banking guidance to stop punishing business owners for prior cannabis convictions
Photo by Mike Latimer.
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