Red Trumps Green: Legalization Initiatives Fall Beneath Conservative Wave [FEATURE]

Three marijuana legalization initiatives and a psychedelic legalization initiative failed. But there were a couple of glimmers of hope.

People lining up to cast their ballots. (Creative Commons)

Drug reform initiatives were on the ballot in several states, and like the Democratic Party nationally, they were generally defeated at the polls. All three marijuana legalization initiatives lost, as did a psychedelic legalization initiative. And a regressive California sentencing initiative won. There were a couple of bright spots though: a medical marijuana initiative won and so did a marijuana labor peace initiative.

Here is how it went:

Marijuana Legalization

Florida -- LOST

Despite funding by multi-state marijuana operators to the tune of more than $100 million, the Amendment 3 marijuana legalization constitutional amendment was defeated, despite getting a majority of the vote. According to the Florida Division of Elections, 55.89 percent of voters approved it. But because it was a constitutional amendment, it needed 60 percent.

According to the Division, the multistate marijuana operator Trulieve alone contributed $142 million for the campaign. That makes the Florida campaign the most well-funded marijuana ballot measure in US history. But it wasn't enough.

The initiative would have legalized the possession of up to three ounces of pot by people 21 and over, as well as up to five grams of concentrates. There was no provision for home cultivation. Existing medical marijuana operations, e.g. Trulieve, would have been able sell to adults for personal use, and it would have been up to the legislature to allow anyone other than existing medical marijuana dispensaries to get licensed for adult sales.

North Dakota -- LOST

The third time was not the charm in North Dakota. Voters in the state have twice defeated previous legalization efforts, in 2018 and 2022. The Republican-led House passed a legalization bill in 2021, but that was killed in the Senate.

The possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana is already decriminalized, but the state still had more than 4,400 marijuana possession arrests last year.

This year, a marijuana legalization initiative known officially as Question 5 was defeated on Tuesday, winning only 47.45 percent of the vote, according to the North Dakota Secretary of State's office.

The initiative would have legalized the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by people 21 and over, as well as the possession of up to four grams of concentrate and 1500 milligrams of "cannabinoid products," and would have allowed for the home cultivation of up to three plants.

It had no provision for a legal marijuana marketplace, the creation of which would have been up to the state legislature if it chose to. Nor did it

South Dakota -- LOST

Nor was the third time the charm in South Dakota. According to the South Dakota Secretary of State's office, the Measure 29 marijuana legalization initiative lost with only 44 percent of the vote.

Activists saw a 2020 legalization initiative win at the polls, only to be thrown out by the state Supreme Court acting at the best of MAGA Gov. Kristi Noem (R). They tried again in 2022 but lost in that off-year election.

The initiative would have legalized the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana and the home cultivation of up to six plants. In a bid to avoid the kind of constitutional complications that undid the 2020 initiative, it did not address legal marijuana commerce, which would have been up to the legislature.

It also contained protections for employers, allowing them to discriminate against legal marijuana users, and for property owners, allowing them to forbid marijuana use or possession on their premises. The bare-bones initiative contained no social equity provisions. Despite all this, South Dakota voters still rejected it, as well as being the rare state to reject an abortion rights initiative.

Marijuana and Unions

Oregon -- WON

United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 555 spent $2 million to ensure that its Measure 119 initiative making it easier for marijuana industry workers to organize got on the ballot, and the effort paid off for them on Tuesday. According to the Oregon Secretary of State's office, the measure passed with 55.23 percent of the vote.

Similar to "labor peace" laws for the industry in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, Measure 119 will require pot shops and processors to sign labor peace agreements with labor unions representing or attempting to organize their workers. Such agreements mean that the business agrees to remain neutral concerning the labor organization's representatives communicating with the employees of the applicant or the licensee about the employees' rights.

If marijuana business applicants or licensees fail to submit a signed labor peace agreement, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission can deny the application for licensing. Similarly, if a labor peace agreement is ended, licensees would have to submit a new agreement within 30 days or face a license suspension and/or fine.

Medical Marijuana

Nebraska -- WON

It isn't quite official yet, but Secretary of State Bob Evnen's (R) office announced Friday that a paired set of medical marijuana initiatives have enough signatures to appear on the November election ballot. However, the initiatives are not officially certified until county officials statewide complete the signature verification and certification process.

The group behind the effort, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, went for the bifurcated approach in a bid to avoid constitutional challenges at the state Supreme Court that derailed earlier initiative efforts.

The first measure, the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection initiative (Initiative 437), will create a doctor-patient system for medical marijuana to protect patients from arrest. It will allow patients to possess up to five ounces of medicine. According to the Nebraska Secretary of State's office, it passed with 70.7 percent of the vote.

The second measure, the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation initiative (Initiative 438), creates a framework for a regulated medical marijuana industry in the state. The plan envisions a commission to create rules and regulations for a commercial marketplace, with licensed businesses before October 1, 2025. It passed with 66.95 percent of the vote.

Psychedelics

Massachusetts -- LOST

According to unofficial election results (the state does not publish them until they are certified), a psychedelic legalization initiative, the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act that appeared on the ballot as Question 4, was defeated on Tuesday, winning only 44 percent of the vote.

The measure would have authorized the therapeutic administration of psychedelics but also would have allowed for the home cultivation and use of psychedelics.

Massachusetts for Mental Health Options, the campaign committee behind the initiative, raised nearly $4 million, with contributions from Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and the New Approach Advocacy Fund, and spent most of it getting on the ballot. But campaigners could not get the issue over the top this week.

Criminal Justice

California -- THEY WON

A decade ago, state voters approved Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for some drug and other criminal offenses. Now, the Republican-backed Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Retail Theft initiative -- on the ballot as Proposition 36 -- has rolled that back, winning a whopping 70.4 percent of the vote. It will make some drug possession and theft charges felonies.

Prop 47 reduced most drug possession charges to misdemeanors and raised the threshold for property crimes to $950 for them to be charged as felonies. With a new category of crime, "treatment-mandated felony," Prop 36 will mandate drug treatment or prison for people with repeated drug possession convictions for certain drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine. It also makes third-offense theft a felony, regardless of the value of the property taken. If those facing possession convictions opt for drug treatment instead of prison fail to finish treatment, they could face up to three years in prison.

In the decade since Prop 47, prosecutors, police, and big box retailers have blamed Prop 47 for increased property crimes and homelessness (which is much more convenient than blaming housing shortages and high rental prices). Supporters say that drug dependence pushes people to the street, and increasing the penalties for drug possession is the only way to force people into treatment.

Those supporters include Walmart, Target, Home Depot, the California District Attorneys Association, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, and the California Republican Party. They have raised more than $11 million for the campaign.

The opposition includes Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), the state Democratic Party, the Alliance for Safety and Justice, and the ACLU of Northern California. The opposition has raised $1.3 million. Newsom and the Democrats briefly toyed with running an opposing initiative, but that went nowhere.

They argued that no studies on criminal justice or homelessness support the idea that harsher punishment -- or the threat of harsher punishment -- prevents crime or gets people off the street. They also argued that it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars in court and prison costs without measurably reducing crime or poverty. In the meantime, schools, health care, and other essential services will suffer. But the good burghers of California want to crack down on crime.