The long-awaited hearing is slated to begin June 29, and to conclude by July 15. Anyone interested in participating must file a request with the DEA by May 28, and the agency will notify those who have been selected on June 22. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will designate the administrative law judge to preside over the hearing, but has not yet done so.

The federal marijuana rescheduling hearing was previously set for January 2025, but was postponed by DEA Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney and had been in limbo until the April 23 DOJ announcement.

In addition to the Federal Register notice on the proposed rescheduling of medical marijuana, the DEA published a separate notice withdrawing its original rescheduling notice from May 2024, stating that it had “determined that the most expeditious manner of completing the rulemaking process in accordance with Federal law is to terminate the pending hearing proceedings and initiate new hearing proceedings.” 

A third, more substantive notice published April 28 pertains to licensing requirements. Any entities that want access to FDA-approved medical marijuana products will need to register with the DEA and become licensed to handle Schedule III controlled substances. State-licensed medical dispensaries will be able to apply using their existing credentials.

A new registration portal is set to go live April 29 at 9 am EST.

The agency stated that “the most effective and efficient” way to reconcile the changes with federal and international law is to fold state-level licensing systems into the DEA’s existing registration system. The agency has created a registration portal for state-licensed dispensaries seeking to handle Schedule III medical marijuana. It’s set to go live April 29 at 9 am EST. 

Applicants must pay a $794 fee, which will recur annually. The only available payment method is PayPal, but the DEA stated in the application that it plans to have additional options “in the coming weeks.”

To remain in compliance with the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and its restrictions around Schedule I substances, the DEA has been required to monopolize sales of all marijuana supplied for research purposes. It is not similarly required to monopolize the wholesale trade of “medicinal cannabis.”

However, citing the “Convention’s requirement that a government agency serve as the exclusive purchaser of cannabis production,” the DEA will establish a “purchase-and-resale mechanism” in which it buys marijuana crops from registered manufacturers and sells it back to them at the same price.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the Administrator clarifies that researchers who obtain marijuana or marijuana-derived products from a state licensee for use in scientific research shall incur no civil or criminal liability under the Controlled Substances Act solely by reason of having obtained such products from a state-licensed source rather than a separately DEA-registered bulk manufacturer,” the notice states. “The Administrator shall not treat the use of state-licensed marijuana products in federally registered research as a basis for adverse action.”

Image via Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs

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The House Health and Human Services Committee voted 12-1 on January 22 to defer the measure to the 41st day of the session, effectively killing it.

Representative Eric Emery (D), the sponsor of HB 1053, said it is a “narrow and carefully constructed bill that addresses one specific issue: ensuring that terminally ill patients who are already legally authorized to use medical cannabis under South Dakota law may continue the treatment when they enter the hospital or a hospice facility.”

“Under the current law, a patient may legally use medical cannabis at home with their approved practitioner. But once that same patient is admitted into a hospital or hospice facility, that access is abruptly ended—and not because the doctor has changed their mind, but because the facilities’ policies vary widely across the state,” he said. “For terminally ill patients, this disruption can mean unplanned pain, nausea, anxiety or even loss of appetite when care is no longer focused on the cure but comfort and dignity.”

“This bill … simply removes the unnecessary barrier to provide comfort for people who are already dying.”

“I’ve seen firsthand the pain and the suffering that often accompany … this final transition,” he continued. “When pain is eased, anxiety is reduced, and a person can be present with the people they truly love. This bill directly addresses that reality. It does not promise miracles. It simply removes the unnecessary barrier to provide comfort for people who are already dying.”

Representatives of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations and South Dakota Health Care Association testified against the measure, suggesting it would put facilities and staff at risk of violating federal law.

Under the bill, certain health care facilities would have been required to permit qualifying terminally ill patients to store and use medical cannabis on the premises.

Smoking and vaping would not be allowed, however, and so patients would have needed to consume marijuana in other forms.

The right to use medical cannabis also would not have applied to patients receiving treatment in emergency departments.

Facilities would have been able to avoid having to let patients use it if a federal agency took enforcement action on the issue or issued a rule or notification that “expressly prohibits the use of medical cannabis in the facility.”

A Washington State House Committee approved a bill to let terminally ill patients use medical cannabis in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices on January 21.

Lawmakers in several other states are considering similar legislation in 2026.

A Washington State House Committee, for example, approved a bill to let terminally ill patients use medical cannabis in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices on January 21.

A Senate panel in Delaware, meanwhile, took testimony on a bill to enact a similar marijuana reform in that state.

California and a handful of other states already have laws allowing terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in health care facilities. Known as “Ryan’s Law,” the legislation is partly inspired by the experience of Jim Bartell, whose son died from cancer and was initially denied access to cannabis at a California hospital.

The Bartells did eventually find a facility that agreed to allow the treatment, and Jim said Ryan’s quality of life improved dramatically in his final days.

“In the invaluable last days as Ryan fought stage 4 pancreatic cancer, I first-handedly experienced the positive impact medical cannabis had on my son’s well-being, as opposed to the harsh effects of opiates,” Bartell said in 2021, when California’s governor signed Ryan’s Law. “Medical cannabis is an excellent option for relieving pain and suffering in those who are terminally ill, but most importantly it serves to provide compassion, support, and dignity to patients and their families, during their loved-ones’ final days.”

“Looking at each other, holding Ryan’s hand and telling him how much I loved him during his final moments would not have been possible without the medical cannabis,” he said.

Photograph via Picryl/Public Domain

This story was originally published by Marijuana Moment, which tracks the politics and policy of cannabis and drugs. Follow Marijuana Moment on X and Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

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Nearly half of the states have enacted adult-use legalization, and the vast majority of states allow some form of medical cannabis access for qualified patients. But the push for further reform isn’t letting up in 2026, with advocates targeting states across the country—from New Hampshire to Hawaii and several in between.

President Donald Trump’s recent executive order directing the attorney general to complete the process of moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act may also bolster state-level reform efforts. That policy change wouldn’t federally legalize marijuana, but some advocates feel it could embolden more state lawmakers to supporting ending prohibition locally.

“2026 holds both great potential and great peril for cannabis policy reform.”

“President Trump’s executive order directing his attorney general to swiftly reschedule cannabis to Schedule III, coupled with the [Food and Drug Administration’s] prior analysis recommending rescheduling, should be a game changer in the states that have failed to adopt medical cannabis laws,” Karen O’Keefe, state policy director at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), told Marijuana Moment. “Federal law is on the brink of finally acknowledging cannabis has accepted medical use and that it is less risky than opioids.”

“Only 10 states lack a medical cannabis law and they all have Republican-led legislatures,” she said. “Now, their party’s standard bearer has forcefully made the case that medical cannabis can help older Americans, veterans, and be a substitute for ‘potentially lethal opioid painkillers.'”

“While I don’t expect all 10 remaining states to pass medical cannabis bills this year as a result, this could make the difference in some,” O’Keefe said. “In South Carolina, North Carolina and Kansas, at least one legislative chamber previously passed medical cannabis, only for it to not receive a floor vote in the other chamber. Federal rescheduling at the behest of President Trump could make the difference.”

At the same time, however, anti-marijuana activists are stepping up their own campaigns seeking to roll back legalization in several states, despite the fact that polling shows consistent majority, bipartisan support for replacing criminalization with regulation.

Here’s an overview of the states most likely to legalize marijuana in 2026.

Legalization for Adult Use

Florida

While it seems doubtful that Florida lawmakers will move to legalize adult-use cannabis legislatively, there’s another push to enact the reform at the ballot in 2026—spearheaded by the campaign Smart & Safe Florida.

The proposed marijuana legalization initiative is currently under review by the Florida Supreme Court after the campaign collected enough signatures to initiate that process. But the state attorney general and other opponents recently filed briefs challenging its constitutionality, arguing that it misleads voters, violates a single-subject rule for ballot measures and conflicts with federal law.

An earlier version of the initiative made the ballot in 2024, but while a majority of voters supported it, the measure failed to reach the requisite 60 percent threshold for passage of a constitutional amendment. Smart & Safe Florida made certain revisions to the new proposal, but the campaign is running against the clock to secure ballot placement amid litigation that’s already led to the invalidation of about 200,000 signatures it collected.

If advocates do make the ballot, polling continues to signal that a majority of voters would embrace it. Whether it could get to the 60 percent mark is uncertain, however. And Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who actively campaigned against the earlier version, has said he doesn’t think the state Supreme Court will allow it to proceed in any case.

The campaign has relied heavily on funding from a major marijuana company, Trulieve, whose CEO Kim Rivers is credited with lobbying the president directly to both endorse the prior Florida legalization initiative as well as federal cannabis rescheduling.

Meanwhile, a Florida senator recently filed a bill to legalize cannabis statutorily through the legislature.

Hawaii

Past attempts to legislatively enact legalization in Hawaii have fallen short, but momentum has continue to build over recent sessions, and Gov. Josh Green (D) is supportive of the reform.

House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee Chairman David Tarnas (D) also recently said that he will work to advance a bill in the 2026 session that would put the question of marijuana legalization to Hawaii voters to decide on the ballot.

House Speaker Nadine Nakamura (D) has acknowledged broad public support for the reform, but she said that some of her chamber’s members from the island of Oahu are not on board.

In February 2025, Hawaii’s Senate narrowly defeated a proposal that would have increased fivefold the amount of cannabis that a person could possess without risk of criminal charges.

A Senate bill that would have legalized marijuana for adults, meanwhile, ultimately stalled for the session. That measure, SB 1613, failed to make it out of committee by a legislative deadline.

While advocates felt there was sufficient support for the legalization proposal in the Senate, it’s widely believed that House lawmakers would have ultimately scuttled the measure, as they did in 2025 with a legalization companion bill, HB 1246.

In 2024, a Senate-passed legalization bill also fizzled out in the House.

The 2025 House vote to stall the bill came just days after approval from a pair of committees at a joint hearing. Ahead of that hearing, the panels received nearly 300 pages of testimony, including from state agencies, advocacy organizations and members of the public.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire lawmakers have introduced a slew of marijuana-related bills for the 2026 session, including proposals to legislatively enact adult-use legalization—or alternatively leave it up to voters to decide at the ballot.

A proposal from Representative Jonah Wheeler (D) stands out because it seeks to put a constitutional amendment on the state ballot that would let voters decide if they want to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older, allowing them to “possess a modest amount of cannabis for their personal use.”

The measure comes as lawmakers have had difficulty advancing legalization bills through both chambers in recent sessions, and as Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) has threatened to veto any such bill that reaches her desk.

Other bills filed for 2026 include measures to legalize marijuana possession statutorily, protect the gun rights of medical cannabis patients and make it so medical marijuana dispensaries could operate on a for-profit basis, as is the case in the majority of states that have legalized the plant.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives gave approval to a marijuana legalization bill on the first day of the 2026 session earlier in January, but its prospects in the Senate are questionable. Even if approved there, the governor remains opposed.

“We know where it’s going to go. Let’s send a virtue signal,” the sponsor of the legalization proposal, Rep. Jared Sullivan (D), said during a House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee hearing. “Let them be the ones that are pissing off voters who care about this.”

The House has repeatedly passed similar legalization legislation in past sessions.

Pennsylvania

Bipartisan Pennsylvania lawmakers who’ve been working to enact adult-use legalization over recent sessions without success so far say Trump’s federal marijuana rescheduling order could grease the wheels in the new year.

The House passed a marijuana legalization bill in 2025, with a novel proposal to have sales take place at state-run stores, but it was promptly rejected by the GOP-controlled Senate.

A top House lawmaker said recently that legalizing cannabis is one way to create a “very important” revenue source for the state, and it’s an achievable reform if only legislators could find “the will to do it.”

Separately, a top GOP senator—Scott Martin (R), chair of the chamber’s Appropriations Committee—said in December that he was skeptical about the prospects of enacting legalization in the 2026 session, in part because of the federal classification of cannabis that’s now expected to change. Of course, marijuana would still be federally illegal under Schedule III, so it’s unclear if a simple loosening of the law would move the needle enough from his perspective.

A top aide to Pennsylvania’s governor said in September that lawmakers should stop introducing new competing legalization bills and instead focus on building consensus on the issue—while emphasizing that any measure that advances needs to contain equity provisions if the governor is going to sign it into law.

Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), for his part, said in August that the House “needs to pass the language in my bill and send it to my committee,” after which point he “can negotiate with the Senate and the governor.”

The senator separately said recently that supporters are “picking up votes” to enact the reform this session.

Polls have shown bipartisan support for legalization among voters, but the reform has consistently stalled in the legislature, due largely to GOP opposition. But not all Republican members are against the policy change—and one recently said she felt her party should seize the “opportunity to snatch” the issue from Democrats.

Medical Marijuana Legalization

Idaho

A campaign is seeking to put medical marijuana legalization on Idaho’s 2026 ballot, and it recently stepped up its efforts by recruiting paid petitioners to gather voter signatures to qualify the measure.

The Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho (NMAI) unveiled its certified initiative to put medical marijuana legalization on the ballot in October 2025. The measure would provide patients with qualifying conditions access to marijuana from a limited number of dispensaries and provide a regulatory framework for the market.

In order to make the ballot, the campaign will need to collect 70,725 valid signatures, including from at least 6 percent of registered voters in 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts.

Meanwhile, voters will see a different kind of proposal on the ballot in November: a constitutional amendment that the legislature approved to make it so only lawmakers could legalize marijuana or other controlled substances.

Legislators separately held a hearing in March 2025 to discuss a bill to enact medical cannabis legalization legislatively, but there hasn’t been meaningful action on the issue in the months since.

Kansas

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said in 2025 that it’s time for lawmakers in the state to finally legalize medical marijuana. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but advocates see opportunities for advancing the reform.

Polling from late 2024 found that nearly three quarters (73 percent) of Kansans support legalizing medical marijuana. About six in 10 (61 percent) respondents also said they supported legalizing cannabis for broader adult use.

Legislators have nevertheless repeatedly shot down reform efforts.

The House of Representatives passed a medical cannabis bill in 2021, for example, but it stalled out in the Senate. And after numerous hearings on the issue, the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee voted in 2024 to table a limited medical marijuana pilot program bill.

A later effort to revive the medical cannabis bill on the Senate floor ultimately fell short. That measure was filed about a month after the House rejected a Democratic lawmaker’s amendment to a broader drug scheduling bill that would have removed marijuana entirely from the state’s controlled substances law, effectively legalizing it.

After the Senate committee shelved the limited medical marijuana bill, Kelly issued a statement urging the public to contact their representatives to demand that they take the legislation back up for action, but that did not happen before the end of the legislative session.

Senate President Ty Masterson (R) said in 2023 that was open to a discussion about a limited medical marijuana program. But in 2024, he appeared less welcoming to the idea, calling medical legalization a “nonstarter,” suggesting the policy change would lead to a surge in “gang activity” and put kids at risk.

In October 2024, meanwhile, a state legislative panel voted against a recommendation that lawmakers legalize medical cannabis in 2025.

The legislature’s Special Committee on Medical Marijuana, charged with consideration of possible pathways for medical cannabis reform, said legalizing medical marijuana was premature and that lawmakers should first wait to see how federal rescheduling and other reform efforts unfold.

North Carolina

The governor of North Carolina in June reiterated his support for legalizing marijuana, stressing the need to create a regulated cannabis program to mitigate the risks associated with products in the intoxicating hemp market.

“Our state’s unregulated cannabis market is the Wild West, and it is crying out for order,” Gov. Josh Stein (D) said, adding that’s the reason he signed an executive order creating a bipartisan commission to study cannabis legalization in hopes of moving the GOP-controlled legislature to act on reform.

During his time as the state’s attorney general, Stein led a separate task force under then-Gov. Roy Cooper (D) that examined racial injustice issues and ultimately recommended decriminalizing marijuana and studying broader legalization in response to racially disparate enforcement trends.

In recent sessions, multiple limited medical marijuana legalization bills advanced through the Senate, only to stall out in the House.

Meanwhile, in the House, Rep. Aisha Dew (D) filed a bill in April 2025 that would have legalized medical marijuana for patients with a variety of specified conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, PTSD, end-of-life care and other serious ailments.

The North Carolina Compassionate Care Act is considerably more detailed than a separate Democrat-led medical cannabis bill that would allow access only for patients enrolled in a “registered research study.”

Advocates had been awaiting House introduction of a comprehensive bill, especially since Senate President Phil Berger (R) said his chamber was deferring to the House to move first on medical marijuana reform this session.

South Carolina

The governor of South Carolina said in June that there’s a “compelling” case to be made for legalizing medical marijuana in the state, despite reservations from law enforcement. And a key GOP lawmaker who’s championed the reform over multiple sessions said he’s eyeing 2026 as the year to finally get the job done.

Gov. Henry McMaster (R) said he thinks supporters of the reform have a “very compelling situation,” despite the fact that “law enforcement, almost end-to-end, still have grave concerns.”

Sen. Tom Davis (R), who has sponsored several bills to legalize medical cannabis, has described his legislation as “conservative.”

An earlier version of Davis’s cannabis measure passed the Senate in 2024 but was never taken up in the House. He then filed a revised version in 2025 that also did not advance.

The office of House Speaker Murrell Smith (R) has tempered expectations about reform, saying “previous statement on the medical marijuana bill holds true,” referencing his comments on insufficient support within the GOP caucus to advance the reform.

Among the public, medical marijuana legalization enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support in the state, with a 2025 poll finding that 93 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Republicans and 84 percent of independents back the reform.

The state Senate passed an earlier version of the legislation in 2022, but it stalled in the opposite body over a procedural hiccup.

Wisconsin

With less than a year to go until Wisconsin voters are set to elect their next governor, the majority of the current candidates are making clear that they will support efforts to legalize marijuana—in part to fund public programs such as increased access to broadband.

In 2025, Wisconsin senators took up a filed Republican-led bill that would legalize medical marijuana in the state, but it has yet to advance.

Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R) and Sen. Patrick Testin (R) filed the legislation, and the Senate Health Committee debated the proposal at a hearing, taking testimony from patients and other advocates. Members didn’t vote on the bill, but the chair said the panel would be advancing it “fairly quickly.”

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said in 2025 that he hopes lawmakers in the state can “find a consensus” on legislation to legalize medical marijuana. But he added that the cannabis bill filed by his Republican leadership counterpart in the Senate was “unlikely” to pass his chamber because it is “way too broad and way too wide-ranging.”

More recently, Vos said he thinks “we are not there” in terms of having enough votes to advance even a medical cannabis bill through his chamber at this point, despite characterizing himself as a supporter of patients’ access to marijuana “for almost a decade now.”

As the 2025 session was set to get underway, Felzkowski said she was “hoping to have a conversation” in the legislature about legalizing medical marijuana—though she viewed the Republican Assembly speaker as “an obstacle.”

Gov. Tony Evers (D), who supports legalizing cannabis, isn’t seeking re-election—but he said in June that if his party can take control of the legislature, the state can “finally” legalize marijuana so that residents don’t have to go to neighboring Illinois to visit its adult-use market.

The chances of advancing reform may also be bolstered by the redistricting map the governor signed in June 2024.

Separately that month, a poll from Marquette Law School found that two in three Wisconsin voters support legalizing marijuana.

The state’s Republican-controlled Senate and Assembly last summer rejected another attempt to legalize marijuana, defeating amendments to budget legislation that would have ended prohibition in the state and established new medical and adult-use cannabis programs.

Evers has routinely attempted to change that policy as part of his budget requests—and Democratic leaders have similarly pushed for reform.

Republicans in the legislature also cut the marijuana provisions from a state budget proposal in May, as they’d done in past sessions.

Despite Republicans’ move to cut legalization from the budget legislation, party leaders recently acknowledged that the debate over medical marijuana legalization is “not going to go away,” and there’s hope it can be resolved this session.

Rollback Bids and Other Measures

Arizona

A recently filed ballot initiative in Arizona would repeal key provisions of the state’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law by eliminating commercial sales, while still permitting possession and personal cultivation.

The “Sensible Marijuana Policy Act for Arizona” is being spearheaded by Sean Noble, president of the political strategy firm American Encore.

Possession and home cultivation would remain lawful if voters chose to enact the initiative—and Arizona’s medical marijuana program would remain intact—but the commercial market for adult-use cannabis that’s evolved since voters approved a legalization measure in 2020 would be quashed.

In order to make the ballot, the campaign will need to collect 255,949 valid signatures by July 2. If the proposal goes to voters and is approved, it would take effect in January 2028.

It remains to be seen if there will be an appetite for repeal among voters, as 60 percent of the electorate approved legalization at the ballot in 2020.

What’s more a 2025 poll found majority support for medical cannabis legalization (86 percent), adult-use legalization (69 percent) and banking reform (78 percent).

Maine

Maine officials in December cleared prohibitionist activists to begin collecting signatures for a proposed ballot initiative that would roll back the state’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law. The measure, if approved, would also revise the regulatory structure of the medical cannabis program by imposing product testing requirements.

The proposal—titled “An Act to Amend the Cannabis Legalization Act and the Maine Medical Use of Cannabis Act”—is a revised version of a marijuana initiative filed in September that was backed by a Republican state senator and a former top staffer to then-Gov. Paul LePage (R), a staunch prohibitionist.

The latest proposal, petitions for which were approved by the secretary of state’s office, would remove and amend multiple sections of current state statute—aimed at effectively repealing the legalization of adult-use marijuana sales that voters approved in 2016.

Possession of up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis by adults 21 and older would remain legal under the proposal, but a section of the law permitting home cultivation would be repealed. Medical marijuana sales and home cultivation would remain legal.

Activists must submit at least 67,682 valid voter signatures by February 2 in order to qualify for next year’s ballot. If approved by voters, the initiative would take effect on January 1, 2028.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts officials in December announced that a campaign behind an initiative to roll back the state’s marijuana legalization law collected enough valid signatures to send the measure to lawmakers for consideration, before it potentially gets put in front of voters to decide on at the ballot.

The campaign had already expressed confidence that it secured enough signatures to advance. Lawmakers received the proposal at the start of the 2026 session on January 7, and have until May 5 to act on it. If they choose not to enact it legislatively, the campaign would need to go through another round of petitioning and get at least 12,429 certified signatures by July 1 to make the November ballot.

There’s been controversy surrounding the prohibitionist coalition’s signature collection tactics, with allegations that petitioners working on behalf of the campaign shared misleading information about what the measure would accomplish—with claims that paid petitioners have used fake cover letters for other ballot measures on issues like affordable housing and same-day voter registration.

The state attorney general’s office has confirmed it’s received complaints to that end. And an association of state marijuana businesses in December urged voters to report to local officials if they observe any instances of “fraudulent message” or other deceitful petitioning tactics. The campaign has denied the allegations.

The State Ballot Law Commission has scheduled a hearing to consider the complaints of alleged fraud for this month.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s (D) office—which cleared the campaign for signature gathering in September—has stressed to voters the importance of reading their summary, which is required to go at the top of the signature form, before signing any petitions.

Meanwhile, the head of Massachusetts’s marijuana regulatory agency recently suggested that the measure to effectively recriminalize adult-use cannabis sales could imperil tax revenue that’s being used to support substance use disorder treatment efforts and other public programs.

Whether the cannabis measures make the cut is yet to be seen. Voters approved legalization at the ballot in 2016, with sales launching two years later. And the past decade has seen the market evolve and expand. As of August, Massachusetts officials reported more than $8 billion in adult-use marijuana sales.

Massachusetts lawmakers recently assembled a bicameral conference committee to reach a deal on a bill that would double the legal marijuana possession limit for adults and revise the regulatory framework for the state’s adult-use cannabis market.

Ohio

On the other side of the debate, Ohio activists recently said that they’ve met an initial signature requirement to launch a campaign aimed at repealing key components of a bill the governor signed to scale back the state’s voter-approved marijuana law and ban the sale of consumable hemp products outside of licensed cannabis dispensaries.

2026 Could Be a Big Year for Marijuana

“2026 marks a potential inflection point for the cannabis reform movement,” Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “We faced significant headwinds in 2025, with lawmakers in several states rolling back voter-initiated cannabis reforms, and we face additional repeal efforts in 2026.”

“How successfully we respond to these challenges will determine the degree to which our movement continues to move forward,” he said. “The public remains committed to adult-use legalization and medical cannabis access, and it is our responsibility to galvanize this public opinion and ensure that it prevails in state houses and at the ballot box.”

O’Keefe of MPP said “2026 holds both great potential and great peril for cannabis policy reform.”

“For the first time, ballot initiatives may quality to reinstate cannabis prohibition. Meanwhile, two of the most populous states in the country—one purple and one red—could legalize cannabis for adults,” she said. “And we are on the cusp of federal rescheduling at the direction of a Republican president, which could provide a boost in the states that continue to prohibit medical cannabis.”

“We are also seeing continued attempts to whittle away at cannabis freedoms, along with proposals to reduce the numbers of lives ruined over cannabis that already have legalization,” O’Keefe said.

What 2026 ultimately brings in the way of marijuana reform is yet to be seen. But if 2025 is any indicator—with a sometimes dizzying series of policy developments that advocates have worked to navigate—it seems likely that the cannabis community is looking at another rollercoaster.

Photograph (cropped) by Abdulvahap Demir via Pexels

This story was originally published by Marijuana Moment, which tracks the politics and policy of cannabis and drugs. Follow Marijuana Moment on X and Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

The post Which States Could Legalize Marijuana in 2026? appeared first on Filter.

The policy is part of broad budget legislation signed into law earlier in 2025 by Governor Ron DeSantis (R). The provisions in question direct the state Department of Health (DOH) to cancel registrations of medical marijuana patients and caregivers if they’re convicted of—or plead guilty or no contest to—certain drug charges.

The measure says a patient or caregiver will have their registration immediately suspended upon being charged with a covered state drug violation, and the suspension will remain in place until the case reaches a final disposition. DOH officials have authority to reinstate the registration, revoke it entirely or extend the suspension if needed.

Bobbie Smith, director of the Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU), told lawmakers on October 15 that regulators are already banning people from the medical cannabis program under the new policy.

OMMU has “identified 20 individuals that meet the new requirement for revocation, and there’s roughly 140 that we’re still monitoring as they wait make their way through the criminal justice system,” Smith said at a hearing of the House Health Professions & Programs Subcommittee, in comments first reported by Florida Politics.

Under the law, authorities are required to revoke a patient or caregiver’s registration if they were “convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendre to, regardless of adjudication, a violation [of state drug law] if such violation was for trafficking in; the sale, manufacture or delivery of; or possession with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver a controlled substance.”

The enacted version of the legislation focuses specifically on production and distribution. It does not contain an earlier restriction from prior versions that would have also revoked registrations for people who merely purchased illicit drugs, including more than 10 grams of marijuana, solely for their own use.

It also clarifies that patients and caregivers have a process to request their registrations be reinstated. That involves submitting a new application “accompanied by a notarized attestation by the applicant that he or she has completed all the terms of incarceration, probation, community control or supervision related to the offense.”

It’s not clear whether the bill will impact only future cases … or whether DOH would need to review past drug convictions.

It’s not clear from the plain language of the revised bill whether it will impact only future criminal cases involving medical marijuana patients and caregivers, or whether DOH would need to review the records of existing program registrants and revoke registrations of an untold number of Floridians with past drug convictions.

Florida lawmakers defeated several proposals to expand the medical cannabis program during the 2025 regular legislation session—including by allowing home cultivation, adding new qualifying conditions, protecting employment and parental rights of patients and letting military veterans register for free.

Meanwhile, DeSantis recently acknowledged in a speech that marijuana legalization is popular with voters, even though he opposes it and campaigned to defeat a reform initiative on the state’s ballot in 2024.

Advocates are now working on a new cannabis initiative that they hope to place on Florida’s 2026 ballot. As of the summer, the renewed legalization campaign had collected more than 75 percent of the required signatures to put the marijuana measure before voters in 2026, according to state officials.

DeSantis said in February that the newest proposal is in “big time trouble” with the state Supreme Court, predicting it will be blocked from going before voters.

Smart & Safe Florida is hoping the revised version will succeed in 2026. The campaign—which in the previous election cycle received tens of millions of dollars from cannabis industry stakeholders, principally the multi-state operator Trulieve—incorporated certain changes into the new version that seem responsive to criticism opponents raised during the 2024 push.

For example, it now specifically states that the “smoking and vaping of marijuana in any public place is prohibited.” Another section asserts that the legislature would need to approve rules dealing with the “regulation of the time, place and manner of the public consumption of marijuana.”

In 2024, DeSantis accurately predicted that the cannabis measure from the campaign would survive a legal challenge.

In 2024, the governor accurately predicted that the cannabis measure from the campaign would survive a legal challenge from the state attorney general. It’s not entirely clear why he feels this version would face a different outcome.

While there’s uncertainty around how the state’s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released in February showed overwhelming bipartisan voter support for the reform—with 67 percent of Florida voters backing legalization, including 82 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans.

However, the results conflict with another recent poll from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, a proactive opponent of legalization, which found majority support (53 percent) for the reform among likely voters, but not enough to be enacted under the 60 percent requirement.

Another recent poll of Florida Republican voters showed just 40 percent of that demographic said they’d vote in favor of the legalization proposal.

In the background of the campaign’s signature development, DeSantis signed a GOP-led bill in June to impose significant restrictions on the ability to put initiatives on the ballot—a plan that could impair efforts to let voters decide on marijuana legalization in 2026.

Meanwhile, a Florida state senator recently filed a pair of bills for the 2026 legislative session that would provide employment and parental rights protections for registered medical marijuana patients.

Photograph via Rindge Police Department/Facebook

This story was originally published by Marijuana Moment, which tracks the politics and policy of cannabis and drugs. Follow Marijuana Moment on X and Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

The post FL Now Suspends Medical Marijuana Cards Upon Arrest for Drug Charges appeared first on Filter.

A smaller proportion of respondents said they felt the VA should provide psychedelic treatments, such as MDMA or psilocybin (27 percent), while 17 percent supported VA-provided ketamine and 12 percent supported access to a similar drug, esketamine.

The poll was conducted by Mission Roll Call, a nonprofit that represents veterans. Results come from “nearly 2,000 responses from all 50 states, and 95% of respondents are either a veteran or a family member of a veteran,” the group said.

The questions about VA-provided substances like medical marijuana and psychedelics were part of a question around “novel treatments.” Others included obesity treatment, abortion and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Graphic by Mission Roll Call

“In general the respondents to our survey support the inclusion of novel treatments for ailments,” Mission Roll Call said in its report on the findings. The group added that it’s “working with several partners to introduce initiatives to help veterans where the research and results support it,” pointing specifically to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

In early 2024, a separate Ohio State University (OSU) survey found that six in 10 active duty military service members and veterans—as well as 85 percent of military family members—supported legalizing marijuana.

Along the lines of the new poll, that survey found that fewer veterans—four in 10—favored legalizing psychedelics, at least for nonmedical use. Among family members and non-military respondents, meanwhile, 59 percent and 61 percent, respectively, supported the change.

Support among veterans was markedly higher when it came to doctor-recommended use of marijuana and psychedelics, which an earlier OSU study discussed.

The work aims to evaluate and allow the VA to more clearly communicate cannabis’s potential benefits for conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder.

That paper found 72 percent support among veterans for VA doctors to be legally allowed to recommend marijuana and 64 percent support when it came to psychedelics.

Separately, VA officials recently announced they’re looking for contractors to analyze and explain scientific evidence on medical marijuana to clinicians and the general public as part of an ongoing project.

The work aims to evaluate and allow the VA to more clearly communicate cannabis’s potential benefits for conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as potential risks around cannabis use disorder and consumption during pregnancy.

As the VA explained in an earlier filing, about 9 percent of military veterans reported using cannabis in the past year, and about 40 percent of those said they used marijuana to treat medical conditions. The trouble comes when veterans try to talk to VA doctors about use of the drug.

“In short, clinicians will encounter patients who are using cannabis or who have questions about using cannabis,” the VA said. “Discussions about cannabis are challenging in part because evidence examining the benefits and harms of cannabis is growing and changing rapidly, and because of the variability in the way the existing evidence base has been interpreted.”

Earlier in May, meanwhile, a military veteran who’s become an advocate for psilocybin access met with VA staff, and VA Secretary Doug Collins, to discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine for the veteran community.

Collins said he’s open to the idea of government vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of the VA.

The visit came as Collins continues to promote psychedelics as a possible alternative treatment option for those suffering from serious mental health conditions such as PTSD.

Collins said in April that he had an “eye-opening” talk with US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. And Collins said he’s open to the idea of having the government provide vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of the VA, as Congress considers pathways for access.

During a Senate committee in May, he separately reiterated his commitment to exploring the efficacy of psychedelic therapy to address serious mental health conditions that commonly afflict military veterans.

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers also recently asked the VA head to meet with them to discuss ways to provide access to psychedelic medicine for military veterans.

In a letter sent to Collins, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—said they were “encouraged by your recent remarks about the importance of pursuing research into psychedelic treatments and other alternative treatments to improve Veterans’ care.”

Correa and Bergman separately introduced a bill in April to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.

A VA-funded study produced “stunning and robust results” from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy.

Bergman has also expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under President Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies “spines” to tackle such complex issues.

In December, the VA separately announced that it’s providing $1.5 million in funding to study the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD).

In 2024 Rachel Yehuda, who has overseen some psychedelic research as director of mental health at the  James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, also touted an initial study the agency funded that produced “stunning and robust results” from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy.

In January, former VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said that it was “very encouraging” that Kennedy has supported psychedelics reform. And he hoped to work with him on the issue if he stayed on for the next administration, but that didn’t pan out.

Photograph (cropped) of Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital, San Antonio, by Billy Hathorn via Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons 3.0

This story was originally published by Marijuana Moment, which tracks the politics and policy of cannabis and drugs. Follow Marijuana Moment on X and Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

The post Veterans Want VA to Provide Medical Marijuana: Survey appeared first on Filter.

On the morning of March 26, members voted in favor of HB 198, from Representative Jared Sullivan (D), which would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana flower, 10 grams of concentrate and up to 2,000 milligrams of THC in other cannabis products.

Retail sales of marijuana products, along with home cultivation, would remain illegal. Consuming marijuana on public land would also be prohibited.

“It is 2025. Let’s stop arresting people and ruining their lives for possession of cannabis.”

The legislation cleared the chamber in a vote of 208-125.

“It is 2025. Let’s stop arresting people and ruining their lives for possession of cannabis, something that many states in the country have already legalized,” Sullivan said ahead of the vote.

He noted that there seems to be a consensus that cannabis should be legal, even as there is lingering disagreement on how to regulate a market for sales.

“Once we get it legal, we can continue to have that debate. That seems to be where the sticking points [are]: Do we want it to be a private, industry-based model? Do we want to be a state-run model?” he said. “These things are where we’re getting kind of caught up in the weeds, and it seems like most people agree that we should legalize it.”

The House on March 26 also passed HB 528, from Rep. Kevin Verville (R), which in its current form would lessen the state’s penalties around psilocybin.

Under the plan, a first psilocybin charge would be a violation, subject to a fine of $100 or less.

Second and third psilocybin charges, meanwhile, would be class B misdemeanors, carrying fines of up to $500 and $1,000, respectively, but with no risk of jail time. Fourth and subsequent charges would remain classified as felonies.

Sales and distribution of the substance would still be illegal, as the reform would apply only to “a person 18 years of age or older who obtains, purchases, transports, possesses, or uses psilocybin.”

As originally introduced, the legislation would have completely removed penalties around obtaining, purchasing, transporting, possessing or using psilocybin, effectively legalizing it on a noncommercial basis. However a House committee amended the bill before unanimously advancing it earlier in March.

“This bipartisan, common-sense legislation will end the decades-long terror of becoming a felon for possession of mushrooms. Our fight is far from over.”

Verville told Marijuana Moment that the House’s passage of his psilocybin bill is “an historic, albeit small first step on our journey to correct 60 years of demonstrably failed policy on psychedelics.”

“This bipartisan, common-sense legislation will end the decades-long terror of becoming a felon for possession of mushrooms that grow naturally in New Hampshire, North America, and across the globe,” he said. “Our fight is far from over. Our attention will now turn to the NH Senate, in hopes of having them concur with the position of the House, and then beseech our governor to allow the bill to pass into law.”

House lawmakers on March 26 also approved HB 190, from Rep. Heath Howard (D), which would increase the possession limit of medical marijuana by patients and caregivers, raising it to 4 ounces from the current two. Existing 10-day patient purchase limits would also increase from 2 ounces up to four.

The psilocybin and medical cannabis expansion bills were passed as part of the chamber’s consent calendar without floor debate and were not given roll-call votes. All three House-passed reform bills now proceed to the Senate for consideration.

Another cannabis-related proposal, meanwhile, is set for action in the House in the coming days: HB 380, from Rep. Suzanne Vail (D)—to adjust penalties around sales of medical cannabis to people who are not qualifying patients or caregivers.

It’s widely believed that New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte (R) would stand in the way of any adult-use legalization bill that were to make it to her desk this session, however.

On March 25, a Senate committee took testimony on four other House-passed bills related to cannabis, among them plans around medical homegrow, annulment of past convictions, adult-use legalization and allowing existing dispensaries buy commercial hemp cannabinoids.

It’s widely believed that New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte (R) would stand in the way of any adult-use legalization bill that were to make it to her desk this session, however. A former United States senator and state attorney general, Ayotte said repeatedly on the 2024 campaign trail that she would oppose efforts at adult-use legalization.

New Hampshire lawmakers nearly passed legislation last session to legalize and regulate marijuana for adults—a proposal that then-Gov. Chris Sununu (R) had indicated he’d support. But infighting over how the market would be set up ultimately scuttled that proposal. House Democrats narrowly voted to table it at the last minute, taking issue with the proposal’s state-controlled franchise model, which would have given the state unprecedented sway over retail stores and consumer prices.

A June 2024 poll found that almost two thirds (65 percent) of New Hampshire residents supported legalizing marijuana. Nearly that same share of residents (61 percent) said at the time that they also supported last session’s failed legalization bill, HB 1633.

Photograph of New Hampshire State House by Ken Lund via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0

This story was originally published by Marijuana Moment, which tracks the politics and policy of cannabis and drugs. Follow Marijuana Moment on X and Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

The post NH House Passes Bills to Legalize Marijuana, Decriminalize Psilocybin appeared first on Filter.

During a February 26 appearance on Fox Business, Representative Pat Fallon (R-TX) was asked about recently filed Republican legislation that would impose restrictions on access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—specifically mandating that non-disabled people under 65 work at least 20 hours per week in order to receive the assistance.

Fallon decided to justify the legislation by playing into cannabis stereotypes.

That’s already part of federal law, but lead bill sponsor Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) claims his America Works Act would close “loopholes” that have been exploited in certain states.

Fallon, for his part, decided to justify the legislation by playing into cannabis stereotypes and arguing that federal dollars are going toward medical cannabis purchases by benefit recipients.

“You know what? We have a message for those kind of folks,” he said. “If you’re able-bodied and you want to milk the taxpayer, those days are over. Get off the couch, stop eating the Cheetos, stop buying the medical marijuana and watching television.”

“You’re going to actually contribute now, because the American taxpayer is fed up,” he said, adding that “we can’t fund the federal government anymore with these kind of deficits when we’re spending more on our interest payments almost a trillion dollars than we are on our military. That should be a wake up call that, if we don’t change course, we’re going to lose this great Republic of ours.”

The cannabis narrative is nothing new among certain GOP congressional lawmakers.

There’s no specific mention of cannabis in the bill itself—nor is there evidence of rampant abuse of the SNAP program to buy marijuana, which is already prohibited under federal law.

But the cannabis narrative is nothing new among certain GOP congressional lawmakers.

In 2021, for example, Republican members introduced a bill aimed at preventing people from using federal financial assistance at marijuana dispensaries, titling it the “Welfare for Needs not Weed Act.”

Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), the lead Republican sponsor of a marijuana banking reform bill, also included language in a separate benefits-related bill in 2021 that would make it so people could not use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds at “any establishment that offers marihuana…for sale.”

In 2018, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a prior version of the legislation as part of a broader jobs bill, but it was not enacted into law.

Photograph by Dank Depot via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0

This story was originally published by Marijuana Moment, which tracks the politics and policy of cannabis and drugs. Follow Marijuana Moment on X and Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

The post GOP Lawmaker to Benefit Recipients: Quit Medical Marijuana and Cheetos appeared first on Filter.

Colorado was one of the first two states to legalize cannabis for adult use, implementing the policy in 2014. But Colorado Springs, the state’s conservative stronghold, resisted for a decade before voters narrowly cleared medical dispensaries to pursue adult-use sales in November 2024. Ballot Question 300 stipulated that sales would not be permitted within 1,000 feet of certain sites like childcare facilities or substance use treatment centers. But the City Council had preemptively moved toward a one-mile ban, which would amount to a ban on sales entirely.

On that same ballot, an 11th-hour proposal by the City Council to ban adult-use sales narrowly fell short. Both measures needed a majority of the vote to pass; Ballot Question 300 did so with around 54 percent of the vote, while the competing Ballot Question 2D got around 49 percent. Now, the Council is now proposing to put the issue to a new vote in April, stating that voters may have gotten confused.

At a packed a January 14 Council meeting, constituents accused councilmembers of ignoring the will of the people.

“I get the feeling the City Council is going to keep putting this on the ballot until it’s voted down.”

“There’s a high level of dissonance between the Council and what the voters really want in this city,” said marijuana business owner Aaron Bluse, according to the Colorado Sun. The November election drew a historic turnout; the forthcoming April turnout would be significantly lower, as no one is running for president or any prominent local office.

“I get the feeling the City Council is going to keep putting this on the ballot until it’s voted down,” said Kent Jarnig, one of many who attended the meeting to represent the city’s veteran community, according to the Colorado Sun.

Though the Council didn’t put the repeal of Ballot Question 300 to a vote, it’s expected to do so when it reconvenes January 28.

“It boggles my mind that we want to put it on the ballot again,” said Councilmember Yolanda Avila, who opposes reopening the issue of legalizing adult-use sales, according to the Colorado Sun. “I find that the citizens of Colorado Springs, the constituents, the voters are pretty smart. And I think it’s so unfair that, in November was a presidential election when people get up to vote more than any other time, we are going to have the least voter turnout April 1, because we don’t even have the mayor running.”

Other ordinances approved during the January 14 meeting included a 5 percent tax on cannabis sales. Part of the revenue would go toward increasing access to post-traumatic stress disorder treatment. Colorado Springs is home to five different military bases; about one out of every six people in the city is a veteran.

Image via County of Los Angeles

The post Colorado Springs Won’t Ban Cannabis Sales, May Target Legalization Itself appeared first on Filter.

Governor Tony Evers (D) is discussing marijuana legalization as he tours Wisconsin to pitch his budget for the next legislative session in 2025. At a public event in Appleton on December 2, he cited legalization second among his priorities.

“Expanding Badger Care [Medicaid], legalizing marijuana, protecting access to reproductive health care, enacting common-sense gun safety reform, moving forward on evidence-based justice reform, protecting our environment and investing in our kids and schools at every level,” Evers listed.

It’s more than an idle wishlist, when there’s a new political reality in the state. For years, Wisconsin politics has been defined by a gerrymandered legislature giving Republicans the majorities to stop the Democratic governor implementing his key agenda items. Earlier in 2024, those legislative maps were thrown out by the state Supreme Court (following a key judicial election in 2023 that saw liberal-leaning justices regain a majority on the court), and Gov. Evers signed new maps into law.

Democrats picked up four state Senate seats—ending a GOP supermajority with the power to override a governor’s veto.

Then in November, even as Donald Trump (R) narrowly won Wisconsin in the presidential election, Democrats performed strongly in state-level races. As well as gaining 10 seats in the state Assembly to narrow the Republican majority, they also picked up four Senate seats—ending a GOP supermajority with the power to override a governor’s veto.

Polling from Marquette University Law School shows clear majorities of Wisconsin voters supporting both adult-use marijuana legalization (61 percent) and medical legalization (86 percent). Evers and his allies will also be well aware that, based on the state’s own estimates, neighboring Illinois has raised tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue from out-of-state cannabis purchases by Wisconsin residents—money that could instead by raised by Wisconsin’s state and local governments.

Republican lawmakers have long blocked cannabis legalization, which Evers has supported for years. Earlier in 2024, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R), who argued Wisconsin should prioritize medical legalization first, put forth a bill to do exactly that. But in February, he announced the medical bill was “dead,” with Senate Republicans objecting to the proposal of state-run dispensaries. Senator Melissa Agard (D), a pro-cannabis lawmaker who has introduced her own adult-use bill, called the GOP’s effort “smoke and mirrors.”

As the issue has repeatedly stalled in Madison, Wisconsin advocates have continued to build support for reform. In September, a group of Indigenous nation representatives launched the Wisconsin Wellness campaign, aimed at promoting medical legalization through education.

Pero told Filter that he would like to see Wisconsin take a more “phased” approach, starting with medical before expanding to full legalization.

The group is directed by Rob Pero, a member of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians and owner of a cannabis cultivation and product company; Michael Decorah, senior intergovernmental affairs specialist for the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; and Kristin White Eagle, District II Representative for the Ho-Chunk Nation.

Pero told Filter that he would like to see Wisconsin take a more “phased” approach, starting with medical before expanding to full legalization. Comparing neighbors Illinois and Minnesota, he sees Minnesota’s approach—of developing regulations more slowly over time for hemp, medical and adult use—as the better model.

“Let’s get all that revenue,” he said of adult-use sales, “but we have people that truly need the medicine first and we have to prioritize that. People, whether they’re on chemo, or have Parkinson’s or PTSD—this is truly a medicine, and can provide relief. Prioritizing this as a medicine first is where I’d like to see it go.”

The issue of marijuana has often tested boundaries between federal, state and Indigenous sovereignty. Earlier in 2024, for instance, a tribe in North Carolina chose to legalize, drawing unwanted attention and threats from the two Republicans representing the state in the United States Senate. And in Wisconsin itself, marijuana sparked direct federal action in 2015: The DEA raided a cannabis farm on the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin reservation, seizing and destroying 30,000 plants, despite the tribe’s claim it was growing non-intoxicating hemp, intended for lawful research and industrial use.

Indigenous nations in Wisconsin, Pero said, are wary of exercising their sovereignty on this issue and inviting potential law enforcement backlash.

“There is massive trauma from the War on Drugs that still exists in Indian country,” he said. “Knowing we are incarcerated at much higher rates, have higher PTSD, we have the most serving veterans of any ethnicity. There’s a lot happening that is killing people [in our communities]. The priority for tribes is to protect their citizens.”

Besides Wellness Wisconsin, Pero has also founded the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association (ICIA), to build momentum for reform. Several Wisconsin tribes have signed on in support of the group’s advocacy. Besides factors like the benefits of cannabis access and ending arrests, there is of course an economic incentive. Like cities and towns generally, tribes that embraced cannabis sales could hope to attract visitors and make money through sales taxes and tourism. That’s a point raised by a leader of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Nation, which joined the ICIA.

“Cannabis and hemp provide new opportunities and new forms of revenue to consider beyond our casino revenue,” said Tribal President John D. Johnson Sr. in March. “We have a growing population and we may need more than our casino revenue in the future to provide for our community. This could be another revenue source that would create more job opportunities than we already offer to tribal and non-tribal people as the region’s leading economic engine and employer.”

“We surveyed as many [legislators] as we could, and 100 percent agreed that cannabis should be legal in at least medicinal form.”

Wisconsin’s next legislative session begins on January 6. Marijuana legalization is certain to be part of the conversation, even if it remains to be seen how high it will be on lawmakers’ agendas. Republicans retain majorities in both chambers, even if they can no longer override Evers’ vetoes. And there is still significant opposition to adult-use legalization, at least. An analysis by Wisconsin Watch found that groups that have lobbied lawmakers against cannabis reform since 2003 include the Wisconsin Medical Society, the Chiefs of Police Association and Wisconsin Family Action.

Pero expressed hope that 2025 could be when Wisconsin finally legalizes, for medical use for a start, and said the time is now for advocates to develop relationships and speak with lawmakers.

“We surveyed as many [legislators] as we could, and 100 percent agreed that cannabis should be legal in at least medicinal form,” he said. “At this point, what we’re trying to not do is continue to speculate and point fingers, [versus] trying to find a way to have bipartisan support and some good sponsors for a bill.”

Image of cannabis farm from Oregon Department of Agriculture used via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0

The post Wisconsin Marijuana Legalization (at Least Medical) Finally Looks Closer appeared first on Filter.

Prohibitionists who challenged the cannabis measure from Arkansans for Patient Access (APA) successfully convinced the court that the ballot title was affirmatively misleading, and justices ruled on October 21 that votes will not be processed after Election Day.

The state’s highest court said it was siding with the anti-marijuana group Protect Arkansas Kids (PAK), agreeing that the measure’s title is misleading because it fails to adequately explain that—beyond expanding the state’s medical marijuana program—it would also more broadly legalize possession of cannabis if a federal policy change is made and would also restrict the legislature from revising the voter-approved law if enacted.

“For these reasons, we hold that the proposed amendment is misleading,” Justice Shawn Womack wrote in the majority opinion. “Accordingly, we grant the Intervenors’ request for relief and order that the Secretary be enjoined from canvassing or certifying any ballots cast for the proposed amendment at the November 5, 2024, general election.”

“To ensure that the will of the people is respected and implemented, proposed amendments must be clear—not misleading. In this case, the Intervenors have met their burden of showing that the proposed amendment’s popular name and ballot title are misleading and therefore insufficient to satisfy the requirements of amendment 7, as codified in article 5, section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution. The Secretary is thus enjoined from canvassing or certifying any ballots cast for the proposed amendment at the November 5, 2024, general election.”

A dissenting opinion authored by Justice Cody Hilan states that “when all legal hurdles have been cleared, and we are tasked with making the final decision on sufficiency that tiptoes closely into the realm of judicial subjectivity, we must be faithful to evaluate on the basis of past precedent and through a lens of ‘liberal construction and interpretation’; ensuring that the benefit of the doubt rests with the people who have inherited the guarantee of liberty and the freedom to govern of themselves—the people of Arkansas.”

“For that reason, having analyzed the popular name and ballot title against the plain language of our standard, I find that neither are misleading,” he wrote. “Therefore, I would grant APA’s petition, deny PAK’s request for relief, and find that APA’s popular name and ballot title are not misleading.”

Health care professionals would have been able to issue recommendations to patients for any condition they saw fit.

This comes weeks after the court ordered the secretary of state to continue counting about 18,000 signatures for the medical marijuana expansion ballot initiative, regardless of his argument that they’re invalid because of the manner in which the petitions were processed.

While three justices ultimately agreed with PAK’s claims about a misleading ballot title, it rejected a separate challenge from Secretary of State John Thurston (R), who initially declined to count about 18,000 signatures because the petitions were signed by representatives of a third-party canvassing company the campaign hired, as opposed to the amendment sponsor.

The court said that point is moot because of how the statute defines a sponsor, which is broader and would encompass those third-party representatives.

Regardless, the measure is now only on the ballot because a printing deadline has passed, and so now any votes cast on the reform will not be counted.

Two temporary, governor-appointed replacements for recused justices joined the opinion invalidating the vote. The idea that Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) would be determining those replacements was a point of concern for the cannabis campaign given Sanders’s opposition to the reform.

The initiative would have also permitted dispensaries to start selling pre-rolled joints.

In any case, the marijuana proposal was principally aimed at building upon the state’s existing medical cannabis program, which was created under an earlier voter-approved measure. It would have achieved that by making it so health care professionals could issue recommendations to patients for any condition they see fit and letting patients grow their own marijuana at home.

Nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, pharmacists and osteopathic doctors would have been added to the list of professionals who could make those recommendations. Also, patients wouldn’t have needed to renew their medical marijuana cards for three years, versus one year under the current law.

The initiative would have also permitted dispensaries to start selling pre-rolled joints.

A recent survey found that a majority of likely voters in Arkansas are in favor of the initiative to significantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program.

The state’s medical marijuana has proved popular since its implementation in 2019, with officials announcing in May that at least 102,000 residents have registered for patient cards, exceeding expectations.

Meanwhile, in August 2023 a law took effect in the state clarifying that medical marijuana patients can obtain concealed carry licenses for firearms.

Arkansas voters defeated a ballot initiative to more broadly legalize marijuana for adults in 2022.

Image via Oregon Liquor & Canabis Commission

This story was originally published by Marijuana Moment, which tracks the politics and policy of cannabis and drugs. Follow Marijuana Moment on X and Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

The post Arkansas Supreme Court: Medical Marijuana Votes Will Not Be Counted appeared first on Filter.