November 7, 2018

How Did Cannabis Do in the Midterms? Let Me Count the Ways

November 7, 2018
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Numerous legalization and weed friendly governors, congress people and initiatives enjoyed victory because we voted!

Let’s start with the wonderful state of Michigan where voters legalized adult use, recreational cannabis, becoming the 10th state in the nation to do so.

Delores Saltzman, 80, who was jailed this past August because her Michigan medical marijuana card had expired, was celebrating with friends and family last night, including her son Mark Saltzman.

“Mom is in full celebration mode! A huge victory for us all,” Saltzman told the WeedBlog.

Missouri approved medical marijuana through Amendment 2, the only measure to pass out of the three. Congrats to New Approach MO!

Utah passed Proposition 2 and legalized medical marijuana with a vote of 53.4% to 46.7%. Bravo!

“We’ve always felt that there was a dynamic in this race that hasn’t been polled, which is the motivation factor and enthusiasm gap that we feel favors Proposition 2,” said DJ Schanz, director of the Utah Patients Coalition, at the coalition’s celebration.

Sadly North Dakota’s bid to legalize recreational cannabis lost but they will try again.

The most significant result affecting national cannabis legislation was the defeat of Texas Republican Pete Sessions, who as chairman of the House Rules Committee consistently blocked cannabis-related amendments in Congress from ever making it to a vote.

Sessions was replaced by Democrat Colin Allred, who supports medical cannabis, drug policy reform and a series of social justice initiatives.


Many cannabis legalization and cannabis friendly governors, congress people and marijuana initiatives enjoyed wide victories.

Here’s a rundown:

California: Democrat Gavin Newsom, strong cannabis supporter, is the Golden State’s next governor.

Colorado: Jared Polis (D), one of the US House’s most outspoken supporters of cannabis, was elected governor. Also in Colorado, Amendment X, which allows Colorado to decide its own definition of hemp, passed.

Connecticut: Democrat Ned Lamont pushed out Dan Malloy (B- grade from NORML) as next Governor.

Florida: Our choice for governor lost, but voters restored voting rights to to people with felony convictions, who have served their terms (excluding those convicted of murder and felony sex crimes).

Illinois: J.B. Pritzker, who promised to legalize adult-use cannabis and reinvest in minority communities, trounced Republican incumbent, Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Maine: 
Democrat Janet Mills will become Maine’s first female governor. She supports legalization, passed in 2016. Current Gov. LePage repeatedly vetoed regulations to move the industry forward.

Michigan: Pro-legalization Democrat Gretchen Whitmer is the new governor. “I’ll work with everyone who wants to ensure we tax and regulate marijuana responsibly,” Whitmer told the Cannabis Wire.

Minnesota: Democrat Tim Walz, who has voiced support for legalization, became the 41st governor of Minnesota.

Nevada: Democrat Steve Sisolak, who supports the cannabis industry, won a tight race for governor.

New York: Governor Andrew Cuomo was re-elected after having been pushed toward legalization by Cynthia Nixon in the primaries.

New Mexico: Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham is the first Latina Governor ever elected as governor, has voiced support for marijuana legalization.

Ohio: Voters in five cities passed local marijuana decriminalization measures and Sherrod Brown (D) held his seat in the Senate.

Pennsylvania: Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf was re-elected. He has his supported amending the state’s laws so minor possession offenses are no longer classified as criminal misdemeanors.

Wisconsin: A number of counties and cities approved nonbinding cannabis advisory questions.

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