Marijuana Use Is Up While Cigarette Use Is Down

 

The charts above are from the Gallup Poll -- done between July 1st and 19th of a nationwide sample of 1,200 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.

Most Americans Support The Legalization Of Recreational Marijuana Use

 

The charts above are from the YouGov Poll -- done between April 14th and 16th of a nationwide sample of 1,105 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.

A Substantial Majority Wants Use Of Marijuana To Be Legal In The U.S.

The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between March 13th and 16th of a nationwide sample of 1,595 adults (including 1,429 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.3 points for adults and 3.2 points for registered voters.

 

A Substantial Majority Of Americans Think Use Of Marijuana Should Be Legal

The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between February 13th and 16th of a nationwide sample of 1,682 adults (including 1,512 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.1 points for adults and 3 points for registered voters.

 

A Significant Majority Wants The Use Of Marijuana Legalized

The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between December 5th and 8th of a nationwide sample of 1,530 adults (including 1,380 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.4 points for adults and 3.2 points for registered voters.

 

Most Americans Want Use Of Marijuana To Be Legal

The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between November 7th and 10th of a nationwide sample of 1,663 adults (including 1,500 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.5 points for adults and 3.1 points for registered voters.

 

A Clear Majority Of Texans Want Recreational Marijuana Legalized

The figures above are from the University of Houston Hobby School Poll -- done between January 13th and 21st of Texas adults, with a 2.83 point margin of error.

Two Things Biden Could (And Should) Do Before Leaving Office

On January 20th, President Biden's term in office will end. But there is still time to do some good things for the country. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rick Steves give us a couple of those things. They write: 

Make the Equal Rights Amendment part of the Constitution
By Kirsten Gillibrand

With Republicans set to take unified control of government, Americans are facing the further degradation of reproductive freedom.

Fortunately, Mr. Biden has the power to enshrine reproductive rights in the Constitution right now. He can direct the national archivist to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment. This would mean that the amendment has been officially ratified and that the archivist has declared it part of the Constitution.

The amendment is concise: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”

The amendment would make discrimination on the basis of sex — like restrictions on reproductive care that single out women — unconstitutional, including, in my view, abortion. We’ve seen the potential of this approach; courts in several states with E.R.A.s have cited those amendments in striking down state prohibitions on Medicaid-funded abortion care.

The E.R.A. has met the requirements for certification — it passed two-thirds of Congress in 1972 and was ratified by three-quarters of the states as of 2020. Only a flawed Trump Justice Department memo prevented its certification as a constitutional amendment. The memo contended that the E.R.A. is no longer valid because it failed to meet the seven-year deadline that Congress initially set and then, when the ratification effort fell three states short, extended until 1982.

But the deadline was meaningless. The Constitution says nothing about a deadline for amending it.

No doubt this would be argued in the courts; right-wing legal challenges would follow the archivist’s certification and publication. But there is strong legal backing for our position. Mr. Biden should act now to protect reproductive rights and make the E.R.A. the law of the land.

Pardon people convicted of nonviolent marijuana offenses
By Rick Steves

Mr. Biden has taken historic steps to address America’s outdated and failed federal marijuana policies. In October 2022 he pardonedthousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law, and last week, he granted clemency to around 1,500 people, including some nonviolent drug offenders. His administration has proposed a rule change that would reclassify marijuana — which currently shares the same classification as heroin — as a drug with a lower potential for abuse. But he can still do more.

Gallup polls have consistently shown that a significant majority of Americans support marijuana legalization. And on the campaign trail, Mr. Biden said that “no one should be in jail because of marijuana.” But his October 2022 pardons applied only to people convicted of marijuana possession, not those convicted of selling or distributing marijuana. In the final weeks of his term, he should pardon all Americans who have federal convictions for nonviolent marijuana-related crimes, and he should commute the sentences of every single person who is sitting in federal prison today for those offenses. It’s the right thing to do.

The U.S. Has Seen A Radical Change On Marijuana Legalization

From the Pew Research Center. 

60% Of Texas Support Legalizing Marijuana

The chart above is from the Texas Lyceum Poll -- done between April 12th and 21st of 1,000 adults in the state of Texas. It has a 2.83 point margin of error. 

A Majority Have Tried Marijuana And Want It Legalized

The charts above are from the YouGov Poll -- done between April 25th and 28th of a nationwide sample of 1,134 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.

There Is Strong Support For Marijuana Legalization

The charts above are from the YouGov Poll -- done between April 5th and 8th of a nationwide sample of 1,148 adults, with a 4 point margin of error. 

Most Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana

 

The charts above reflect the results of a survey done by the Pew Research Center. Between January 16th and 21st, they questioned a nationwide sample of 5,140 adults. The margin of error for the survey was 1.7 points.

A Record 70% Of The Public Supports Legalizing Marijuana

 

The charts above are from the Gallup Poll -- done between October 2nd and 23rd of a nationwide sample of 1,009 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.

68% Say The Use Of Marijuana Should Be Legal

The chart above is from the Civiqs Poll. They questioned at least 1,000 adults each week between April 24th of 20117 and October 15th of 2023, and the desire for legal marijuana has remained strong in all that time (currently 68%). The chart below (from that same poll) shows the current demographic breakdown.

 

HHS Department Recommends Marijuana Reclassification

This article is by Julie Tsirkin and Laura Strickler at NBC News.com:

The Department of Health and Human Services is formally recommending that the Drug Enforcement Administration ease government restrictions on marijuana, which remains illegal at the federal level even though 40 states allow its use in some form.

The move comes 11 months after President Joe Biden ordered the top health agency to conduct a review of the drug. The recommendation is to move marijuana from what’s known as a Schedule I drug to Schedule III, under the Controlled Substances Act.

In the eyes of the DEA, cannabis is in the same category as other Schedule I drugs like heroin and LSD, meaning it’s considered to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.

A spokesperson for HHS said it has “expeditiously” responded to the directive in providing its recommendation to the DEA on Tuesday.

If the DEA were to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III, it would most notably eliminate an IRS code intended to prevent drug dealers from claiming tax deductions for business expenses.

That alone could save the marijuana industry hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Small-business owners who spoke to NBC News said the inability to deduct what would otherwise be ordinary business expenses is their single biggest financial burden.

Now that HHS has made its recommendation, all eyes are on the DEA, which has the ultimate authority on scheduling substances.

The Biden administration had hoped to announce the rescheduling of the drug sometime in the fall, around the one-year mark of the president's request for the review, according to five sources familiar with planning. It's not yet clear how long the DEA’s public review process will take.

When reached for comment, a DEA spokesperson said: "We can confirm DEA received a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services providing its findings and recommendation on marijuana scheduling, pursuant to President Biden’s request for a review."

"DEA will now initiate its review,” the spokesperson added.

Asked about the recommendation during a news briefing Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the review “is an independent process” that is led by HHS and the Department of Justice, adding that she would not comment on where Biden currently stands on the issue of decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level.

Reaction to the HHS recommendation has been largely positive on Capitol Hill. In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised HHS as having done “the right thing” and urged the DEA to “quickly follow through on this important step to greatly reduce the harm caused by draconian marijuana laws.” Schumer, D-N.Y., said “there is much more that needs to be done legislatively to end the federal prohibition on cannabis and roll back the War on Drugs.”

Marijuana legalization advocates see this initial step as significant in and of itself: For the first time, the federal government is formally recognizing cannabis’ medical contributions.

The Cannabis Industry Association on Wednesday said that while the recommended reclassification would be historic, more should be done to align federal law with states where marijuana is legal. “The only way to fully resolve the myriad of issues stemming from the federal conflict with state law is to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and regulate the product in a manner similar to alcohol,” said CEO Aaron Smith in a statement.

Easing federal marijuana restrictions is also a political issue that both parties hope to capitalize on ahead of next year's presidential election, as polls have indicated a majority of Americans support legalization.

Some Republicans, including Florida Reps. Matt Gaetz, Greg Steube and Brian Mast have publicly called on the drug to be rescheduled and urged the Biden administration to prioritize the effort. But on the presidential campaign trail, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis doubled down this week on his opposition to marijuana decriminalization and legalization, despite voters in his state legalizing medical use of the drug last year. The Florida Supreme Court is now considering whether a cannabis legalization initiative will appear on the ballot in 2024. 

Separately, there is an ongoing bipartisan effort in Congress that would make it easier for financial institutions to offer banking services to legal cannabis companies.

Schumer has said that getting the legislation, known as the SAFE Banking Act, across the finish line will be a “top priority” when the Senate returns in September. But a looming government shutdown could complicate that effort, even as lawmakers behind the bill have worked to break an impasse over the August recess.

67% Of Texans Support Marijuana Legalization

The chart above is from the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs Poll -- done between January 9th and 19th of 1,200 adults, with a 2.8 point margin of error.

67% Of Texans Support Legalizing Marijuana

 The charts above are from a survey by the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs. They questioned 1,220 Texas adults between January 9th and 19th. The margin of error is 2.8 points.

The Entire U.S. Drug Policy Should Be Overhauled

It has become obvious that the laws regarding marijuana are ridiculous. Marijuana should be legalized nationwide. But the real problem is wider -- all of our drug laws make little sense. We need to rethink all drug laws.

Here is just part of what Maia Szalavitz says about this in an excellent article for The New York Times:

The failure of American drug law, particularly marijuana policy, has long been obvious.

Finally, this October, President Biden ordered the Department of Health and Human Services and the attorney general to review what’s known as the “scheduling” status of cannabis. This legal process could lead to federal regulation of sales for recreational use or a national law that requires a prescription for marijuana. Mr. Biden also recently signed a law to ease onerous restrictions on marijuana research, and legislation is pending to allow cannabis businesses, now forced to use cash, to get access to banks.

Reform is much needed, with more than two-thirds of Americans favoring legalizing and regulating recreational use. Nearly half of Americans can or will soon be able to legally buy marijuana to get high in their state, which conflicts with federal law.

The details of new regulation, however, matter enormously. The current law, the Controlled Substances Act, is antiquated: It makes no scientific sense and grew out of legislation that was often driven by racist and anti-immigrant propaganda. While policymakers consider how to regulate marijuana specifically, they also need to rethink how the U.S. government classifies and controls psychoactive substances in general — not just drugs like marijuana and opioids, but also alcohol and tobacco.

The Controlled Substances Act was initially intended to regulate pleasurable substances that are risky. It has five categories, or “schedules,” which are supposed to reflect varying hazard levels. But it is filled with contradictions.

Schedule I, the most restrictive, bans the sale and possession of certain drugs for recreational use and limits their medical use to research. Those drugs include marijuana, heroin and LSD and most other psychedelics — all of which have wildly different risks. Each also has significant medical benefits.

The remaining four schedules put varying restrictions on medications. But some medically permissible drugs are more dangerous and addictive than some illegal substances — and the recreationally legal drugs alcohol and tobacco can be more dangerous than some prohibited ones and are not scheduled at all.

Initially passed in 1970, when Richard Nixon was president and alcohol and tobacco weren’t seen as drugs at all, the Controlled Substances Act needs a complete overhaul. . . .

Heroin addiction is the deadliest conditionin psychiatry. But neither LSD nor marijuana use kills by overdose, and marijuana doesn’t seem to have significant impact on mortality rates (the effects of LSD on life expectancy haven’t been extensively studied). While both LSD and marijuana are associated with psychotic experiences, lasting psychosis is uncommon. And recent research suggests that cannabis and psychedelics could actually treat some mental illnesses, including addictions. . . .

There’s no science to this system. The Controlled Substances Act was an attempt to justify existing legislation. Many laws prohibiting specific drugs had passed by the 1960s, often propelled by bias and propaganda and without consideration of relative risk.

For example, racist ideas about Black men who used cocaine and Chinese men who used opium helped push the 1914 Harrison Narcotics Act, which prohibited nonmedical use. The 1937 law that banned marijuana was fueled by racism against Mexicans and racist fears about Black jazzmen spreading both addiction and seductive music. . . .

But changing marijuana law isn’t enough. Psychedelics are already presenting similar regulatory issues, with some states already legalizing their use. And it’s unrealistic to think that all of the recreational drugs humans will ever use already exist.

Instead, we should consider creating a new, strict pathway for approval for safer substances that have both recreational and medical uses, like psychedelics — or, for example, some new drug with the benefits of alcohol, but less harm. Without such a path, cartels will continue to be the main innovators, introducing new and often-deadly products to millions without testing or quality control.

Better drug law also demands limits on the marketing and advertising of substances including alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and prescription drugs. As the opioid crisis demonstrated, permitting the marketing of addictive substances can be dangerous, whether aimed at doctors or consumers. Lax rules on commercialization are a disaster.

It’s unclear now how the Biden administration will act on marijuana. But in order to effectively regulate pharmaceutical and recreational drugs, we need new ideas.

68% Of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana

The charts above are from the Gallup Poll -- done between October 3rd and 20th of a nationwide sample of 1,009 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.