The 2020 elections demonstrated that Americans had embraced cannabis legalization. Cannabis reforms received overwhelming support at the ballot, far exceeding that of the major candidates in the election.
2020 will go down in history as the year America recorded the highest voter turnout on Election Day, with the incumbent ousted and cannabis legalization ballot measures approved in both red and blue states.
The new cannabis reforms proved to be more popular than the candidates seeking votes.
Consequently, elective post aspirants who had opposed the new cannabis reforms before the elections were either repudiated or outperformed by the new measures at the ballot box.
Observers say that politicians from states that have cannabis on the ballot should take note of that in the next general elections.
Here is an example of what the elections demonstrated in terms of drug policy popularity in three different states:
Arizona
The proposal for the legalization of adult-use marijuana in Arizona passed by a significant margin. A total of 1,951,877 votes were cast in support of the new measures.
In 2016, the same measures failed in the state, with public opinion on progressive measures changing in just four years.
The new measures outperformed both the incumbent, Trump, who garnered 1,657,250 votes in the state and incoming president, Joe Biden, who stood at 1,668,684.
Biden has since remained at the backseat against Democrats who are at the forefront in backing marijuana legalization.
The president-elect has instead confirmed he committed to support more modest reforms such as decriminalizing possession of cannabis, expunging records related to cannabis offenses, and support for medical marijuana legalization.
For the part, outgoing president Donald Trump said states should be allowed to have the jurisdiction to set their laws and policies to regulate marijuana commerce without federal interference. He, however, confirmed no support for any specific reform.
Montana
A staunch conservative state, Montana voters approved the new measures to legalize marijuana by giving it 341,031 votes against Biden’s 244,783 votes.
Also outperformed at the ballot included Republican governor-elect Greg Gianforte, who garnered 328,543, and his Democratic challenger, Mike Cooney, stood at 250 855.
New Jersey
In New Jersey, the cannabis legalization measures obtained overwhelming support with 2,637,630 votes. According to tally projections by the Associated Press, the numbers were slightly above Biden’s 2,509,428 and Trump’s 1,817,925 votes.
