2013 is almost in the history books, and it was a very big year for marijuana reform. But what was the biggest moment for marijuana in 2013? I’d have to go with Uruguay legalizing marijuana. Uruguay is the first country on the planet to legalize marijuana, and I can’t think of anything bigger than that.
It saddens me that the United States wasn’t the first to legalize marijuana, but we had our victories in 2013 as well, although on a smaller level. Portland, Maine legalized marijuana during the 2013 election, and there were also victories in Michigan as well. 2013 saw some implementation milestones met in Colorado and Washington for their recreational marijuana programs.
One of my favorite parts of 2013 was all of the buzz surrounding initiative efforts across the nation. While the actual election day for these efforts isn’t until 2014, it was still exciting to see how many states feel empowered to start initiatives, and start them early for the next election cycle. There was a lot of downplay from some national organizations as far as not going for 2014 and waiting for 2016, but the polling numbers were just too good, and marijuana prohibition is just too bad to pass up any chance at reform.
What was your ‘biggest marijuana moment’ of 2013? I posed this question on my Facebook, and multiple people commented and sent me messages stating that 2013 was the year they first got their medical marijuana card. That’s absolutely a huge thing on a personal level. I will never forget the feeling I got when I first got my card in the mid 2000’s. There’s no way to accurately describe the feeling of being felony free, but I can assure you, it felt good! I look forward to seeing what you folks have to say in the comments section.
