Every election cycle brings a new wave of ballot measures that legalize recreational or medical cannabis. These measures have a strong track record of passing because although political elites have long been wary of legalization—it was voted down by the platform committee at the Democratic National Convention—cannabis tends to be pretty popular, and ballot initiatives are generally well-funded by legalization advocates and the cannabis industry, which has an interest in expanding its market.
That trend continued with ballot measures to legalize adult-use (AKA recreational) cannabis in South Dakota, Montana, New Jersey, and Arizona all passing, and a medical marijuana ballot measure passing in Mississippi.
Here’s who was behind the ballot measures:
South Dakota’s Amendment A and Measure 26
These two voter-approved initiatives represent a major victory for reformers, as the sparsely populated Great Plains state has had some of the nation’s harshest drug laws and is dominated by right-wing Republicans.
The primary committee that backed these measures was South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, which was funded by New Approach PAC and the Marijuana Policy Project, two D.C.-based national organizations that have been pushing drug reform for years. New Approach contributed more than $1.3 million in cash to the committee, while MPP gave the equivalent of more than $54,000 in staff hours worked. That was enough to push the ballot measures over the finish line, despite two previous medical cannabis measures failing in the state in the past. Opponents of legalization organized under the banner of No Way on Amendment A and had just $140,000 behind them.
Montana’s Constitutional Initiative 118 and Initiative 190
Montana was more liberal in terms of its drug laws than its neighbor South Dakota, as it already had a medical cannabis system in place. So legalizing adult-use weed was a lighter lift for advocates here, and the opposition was less organized. Still, New Approach PAC and MPP (which, incidentally, have received over $600,000 from Dr. Bronner’s, the soap company) put resources into the fight. MPP again gave staff time to ballot supporting committee New Approach Montana, while New Approach PAC pumped $1.9 million in cash into its namesake.
The committee also got consulting and web design assistance and $4.6 million in cash from the North Fund, a liberal dark money group that is shrouded in secrecy. It gave $1.5 million to the successful effort to expand Medicaid in Missouri and provided funding for the pro-D.C.-statehood, anti-filibuster org 51 for 51. But it doesn’t disclose its donors, doesn’t have a website, and seems committed to keeping a low profile. In any case, its funding helped cannabis become legal in Montana.
New Jersey’s Public Question 1
The drug reform movement has hit some stumbling blocks in New Jersey, where last year, Governor Phil Murphy’s push in the Democratic-controlled state legislature to pass a legalization measure failed amid concerns from Black legislators that their communities would become the sites of “marijuana bodegas” that would worsen the quality of life there. So the battle shifted to the ballot, where voters approved legalization by a 34-point margin.
The committee in favor of the public question, NJ CAN 2020 got over $570,000 in funding, with most of that coming from the state chapter of the ACLU, though weed companies hoping to cash in on legalization chipped in nearly $200,000. That put it ahead of the amusingly named opposition committee, Don’t Let NJ Go to Pot, run by a former Chris Christie aide, which couldn't even raise $9,000. With such a disorganized opposition, there was basically no way it could lose.
Arizona’s Smart and Safe Act
The battle to legalize cannabis in Arizona is heavily financed by the people who would benefit: the North American weed industry. Harvest Enterprises, CuraLeaf, Cresco Labs, MedMen, and CopperState Farms—all cannabis companies based in the U.S. or Canada—contributed a combined $3.1 million to the main PAC that supported the ballot measure.
That made stopping its passage particularly tricky, even though Republican Governor Doug Ducey opposed it. Arizonans for Public Health and Safety, the primary opposition PAC, raised over $800,000, most of which came from the right-wing Center for Arizona Policy Action and a handful of wealthy conservative activists. That's a pretty decent amount for an anti-pot campaign, but they couldn't stop the measure from passing with 60% of the vote.
Mississippi's Initiatives 65 and 65A
Voters in the cannabis-unfriendly Deep South state had two initiatives to pick from, both of which aimed to establish a medical cannabis system. 65A, which was supported by the ultra-conservative legislature, would have restricted access to terminally ill patients only, whereas 65 would allow patients with a range of conditions to possess cannabis (which was still a far cry from making it legal full-stop.)
The more lenient system was backed by Mississippians for Compassionate Care, a PAC that got over $450,000 from the Marijuana Leadership Campaign, an organization started by MPP co-founder Rob Kampia, who left the org he founded in 2009 as a result of a sexual harassment scandal. But the PAC’s biggest donor was tech company CEO and Republican state Rep. Joel Bomgaars, who put over $550,000 of his own money behind the effort. The result—perhaps the most surprising of the cycle, given the state's conservatism—was an easy win for 65. That proves that these ballot measures can win literally anywhere.
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