Five States Where Republicans Are Trying to Block Marijuana Legalization – CelebStoner

Illustration via Marijuana and the Law

Republicanss do not favor marijuana legalization. Anyone who thinks they do is delirious.

Ever since South Dakota and Montana legalized adult use in November, Republicans have been pushing back. Let's count the ways:

In South Dakota, a circuit court struck down Amendment A in February. "The failure to submit Amendment A through the proper constitutional processvoids the amendment and it has no effect," Judge Christina Klinger wrote in her decision.The ruling is being appealed in the state Supreme Court.

In Montana, the legislature has been trying to rewrite the language of Initiative 190, removing home grow and instituting a 20% sales and a cap on THC potency.

In Idaho, the legislatureis pushing a state Constitutional ban on legalizing "certain psychoactive drugs," such as marijuana. This would prevent medical or recreational legalization from happening in the state.

"Hey Dems: Don't expect any support from across the aisle."

In Mississippi, medical-marijiuana Initiative 65 is being reviewed by the state Supreme Court. A suit brought by a local mayor claims, like in South Dakota, theconstitutional amendment processwas "improper."

In Florida, on April 22, the state Supreme Court ruled that an inititiative effort byMake it Legal Florida was "misleading" and that it could not appear on the 2022 ballot. The organization had already compiled more than 500,000 signatures to get on the ballot (they need nearly 900,000). Now, they have to start over. What was misleading about the language? According to Chief Justice Charles Canday, "A constitutional amendment cannot unequivocally permit or authorize conduct that is criminalized under federal law. A ballot summary suggesting otherwise is affirmatively misleading.

In addition, in states that have recently passed legalization bills - New York, New Jersey, New Mexico and Virginia - there has been absolutely no Republican support.

And to think some cannabis advocates believed Trump and his White House favored adult use and medical marijuana in states. That was never based on reality. The only Republican Senator who might flip for pot is Ron Paul, but that's a longshot. Plus, several Dem Senators - John Tester (MT) and Jeanne Shahen (NH) - have said they would not support legalization legislation.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer shrugged off the disloyal Dems, stating on April 20: "Hopefully the next time this unofficial holiday 4/20 rolls around, our country will have made progress in addressing the massive over-criminalization of marijuana in a meaningful and comprehensive way."

Just don't expect any support from across the aisle.

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Steve Bloom

Publisher of CelebStoner.com, former editor of High Times and Freedom Leaf and co-author of Pot Culture and Reefer Movie Madness.

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Five States Where Republicans Are Trying to Block Marijuana Legalization - CelebStoner