Greetings Fellow Herbalists,
I did some research the other day, looking into which U.S. states have fully legalized cannabis, which have medical cannabis, and which allow CBD oil only. I did this partly because I'm disgusted that, once again, the Hawaii legislature has killed our adult-use cannabis legislation. I turned up some interesting statistics.
I look at cannabis legislation as a good indicator of the health of democracy in the individual states.
First, I've got to say, the state of Hawaii – although it is dominated by the Democratic Party – is more similar to the Bible Belt states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, all of which are dominated by the Republican Party. All the West Coast states, as well as Nevada, Alaska, New Mexico, and even Arizona (which is Republican-dominated), have all legalized adult use.
Another really interesting fact: Hawaii has no ballot initiatives, i.e. citizens can't introduce legislation directly to the ballot. Now, compare this to the West Coast states, plus Nevada, Arizona, and Alaska – they all have ballot initiatives. In fact, with the exception of Washington and Alaska, citizens in these states can actually modify their state constitutions by citizen-initiated legislation.
In general, full legalization corresponds directly to Democratic Party rule. Republican-controlled states don't like cannabis, although many do allow medical cannabis. The exceptions are: Montana, Arizona, Missouri, Ohio – all have full legalization.
24 states have legalized both adult-use and medical use. I was curious about how many plants can be grown for personal use in states with legalized adult-use, and it varies quite a bit. It's generally, not a lot of plants, and the states will make a distinction between mature plants and seedlings. The clear standout is the state of Maine:
Adult Use - State of Maine:
As many as six mature, 12 immature plants, and an unlimited number of seedlings are allowed per resident 21 years of age or older.
Medical - State of Maine:
Cultivate up to 30 mature cannabis plants, up to 60 immature cannabis plants and unlimited seedlings or cultivate up to 500 square feet of mature plant canopy, up to 1,000 square feet of immature plant canopy and unlimited seedlings.
The following states allow CBD oil only (maybe some also allow CBD buds as well – I don't know): Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia. All are Republican-controlled. None have ballot initiatives.
The following states allow no cannabis at all: Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina. All are Republican-controlled. Of these states, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nebraska have ballot initiatives.
So, why is Hawaii so backwards? I have various theories about that. One thing for sure, if Hawaii had ballot initiatives, cannabis would have been legalized here decades ago. Unfortunately, the state government has a stranglehold on the issue, and the only way to allow ballot initiatives would be to amend the Hawaii state constitution, which of course can only be done through the legislature, with the governor signing the legislation.
I also thought, maybe this situation exists because Hawaii has such a small population, which may imply a connection to the state's finances, funding of police, etc. The Hawaii government is notoriously under-funded. It's kind of like a third world country here. But guess what? There are 10 states with smaller populations than Hawaii, and 70% of them have fully legalized cannabis, including the state of Maine. [EDIT: There are also 15 states with yearly state budgets smaller than Hawaii's, and 47% of those have fully legalized cannabis.]