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U.S. Election and Legalization of Cannabis in Various States

Andrew J. Wilder | Vlad Mihaescu
 

Yesterday the United States presidential election took place, however the final results have not yet been determined and at this point a winner is still too close to call. Our last article on this topic discussed the impact of the election on the American cannabis industry. While former Vice President Biden and Senator Harris are more supportive of cannabis reform than President Trump and Vice President Pence, it may be the Congressional election results that will bring about the greatest change. In that regard, prior to the election, the House of Representatives was controlled by the Democratic Party and the Senate was controlled by the Republican Party.  Although it is too early to know for sure, it appears that the Democrats will maintain control of the House and the Republicans will maintain control of the Senate.  Once composition of the US Congress is finally determined, we will advise as to the likely impact of such changes on the future of U.S. cannabis legislative reform.

Regardless who becomes the President and controls the U.S. Congress, yesterday the states of Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana and Mississippi voted on the legalization of medical and/or recreational cannabis in their states. As of the time of this article, all such initiatives have passed or are expected to pass, demonstrating the will of the American public to continue to be supportive of cannabis reform.  This is consistent with the American public’s growing support of legalization which according to Gallup poll is presently at 66% support. This will increase the total number of U.S. states that have legalized medical cannabis to 37 and recreational cannabis from 11 to 15 states, including Washington D.C.

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