Legislatures start following voters’ lead on marijuana Public opinion, lure of revenue spark legalization bills in several states
The path to legalizing pot often leads the same way: through the ballot box.
Eight states, including California, Colorado and Oregon, have passed voterapproved ballot measures legalizing the purchase and possession of marijuana for anyone 21 and older.
But a new path toward legalization — lawmakerinspired reforms — is emerging.
The shift is perhaps a sign of lawmakers picking up on public opinion. A Pew Research Center survey from October indicated 57% of Americans supported legalized marijuana, compared with 37% who wanted it to remain illegal. A similar Pew survey in 2006 showed almost the opposite — 60% believed it should be illegal, compared with 32% who supported legalization.
This trend also is reflected in many state-level polls, emboldening lawmakers enticed by, among other things, possible tax revenue to move forward with legalization efforts.
Yet while pro-pot measures have advanced in some legislatures, lawmakers and governors still move with a modicum of caution.
How many state legislatures have attempted to legalize marijuana for recreational use in 2017?
A lot. Lawmakers in 17 states have introduced measures to legalize recreational pot for adults and tax its sale. While many of those efforts faltered — some were squashed in committee hearings, while others died during floor votes — pot advocates were right in guessing a regional sweet spot of sorts: the Northeast. So far, Maine and Massachusetts have legalized marijuana through ballot measures, placing pressure on other states — which border or are a short drive away — to act.
Here’s a look at how the debate over legalizing pot is playing out in four Eastern states:
Delaware
In March, nearly a dozen lawmakers introduced a measure in the House that would legalize recreational marijuana.
The measure has seen some promise.
This month, it cleared a House committee by a 10-2 margin. It’s now waiting for a vote on the House floor, where the bill’s sponsors are trying to corral enough support.
Vermont
The Democratic-controlled Legislature in May passed a measure that allows adults 21 and older to possess and grow up to six marijuana plants beginning in 2018. The measure, however, does not allow pot to be sold in dispensaries.
To be blunt: It’s a big, historic win for backers of marijuana legalization. No state legislature had ever before passed a law that legalizes marijuana for recreational use.
But it ran into a roadblock Wednesday as Republican Gov. Phil Scott decided to veto the measure. Scott said, among other things, that he wanted lawmakers to address penalties surrounding driving while high and to take steps to make sure that legalization doesn’t make it easier for minors to access pot. The governor said if these issues were addressed in a special summer session, he would reconsider whether to sign the bill into law.
“I’m not philosophically opposed to ending the prohibition on marijuana,” Scott said.
Proponents of marijuana legalization in Vermont note that a survey by Public Policy Polling in March found that 57% of voters in the state supported legislation that would allow adults to use and possess small amounts of marijuana, while 39% were against it.
Rhode Island
For three years, some lawmakers in the nation’s smallest state have tried to pass measures legalizing marijuana — and for three years, they’ve failed.
But when state Sen. Josh Miller, a Democrat, introduced a measure in February to legalize pot, he assumed his colleagues would vote in favor of it. Why? Well, next door in Massachusetts — less than an hour’s drive from anywhere in the state — voters passed a measure in November to legalize marijuana. To Miller, the calculus was simple: Why let Massachusetts rake in all the tax dollars of legal pot? Besides, he knew polls showed that a majority of his constituents backed legal marijuana.
But his effort hit a roadblock. The bill stalled in the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, where his colleagues have held off on taking action at the request of Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo’s administration.
In April, three of Raimondo’s Cabinet members, including the state’s health director, wrote a letter to members of the committee asking them instead to support legislation to create a 15-member commission to study the pros and cons of legalization. The commission would look at how states like Colorado and Washington have implemented legal pot and report back to Rhode Island lawmakers next year with recommendations on whether to move forward with legalization.
Miller does not approve of waiting to legalize pot.
“This should and needs to happen,” he said this month.
Connecticut
Lawmakers in support of pot legalization have said — like their counterparts in Rhode Island — that they don’t want to lose tax dollars to their neighbors in Massachusetts. Even so, the allure of such revenue only goes so far.
Four bills to legalize and tax the sale of marijuana were introduced this year, but each died in committee hearing rooms.
In a last-minute effort, lawmakers this month sought to insert marijuana legalization into a 2018 budget bill. Still, Democratic legislators have conceded that they do not have enough votes in their own caucus to pass the measure.
As the legislative session nears its finale, the marijuana portion probably will be stripped from the budget.