Voters turned out on Tuesday to deliver another undeniable step to legalizing cannabis throughout the United States. With the addition of Arizona, Montana, and New Jersey the Nation’s total of legal recreational cannabis rises to 15 while the number of states with medical programs has increased to 36 with the addition of Mississippi and South Dakota. In total, 2 in 3 of Americans lives in a state where some form of cannabis is legal.
Cannabis measures passed in both red and blue states leaving cannabis, in today’s climate, one of the least politically polarizing topics amongst American voters. In some states, the voters turned out in larger measures for cannabis than the candidate races.
Many of the 14 states that have yet to legalize cannabis:
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
are expected to have cannabis programs sooner than later if for no other reason than the tax and licensing revenue the programs create for depleted state coiffeurs. In fact, cannabis sales continue to appreciate year over year despite Covid-19 shuts downs.
The decisive cannabis wins on Tuesday bode well for the cannabis industry and we can expect that the cannabis market will continue to expand. Without question, the majority of Americans have demonstrated that they are approving (if not demanding) that United States support legal cannabis at the federal level and stay out of the states way as they pursue the creation of this new market.
