With the midterm elections in the US approaching faster by the day, one topic is on every candidate’s debate agenda—Marijuana legalization.

So far, federal cannabis legalization was only talked about as a thought experiment. Things are now starting to look more in favor of legalization.

This isn’t happening because Canada just legalized marijuana, but that does help.No, the opportunity to legalize cannabis nationally is rising because of different factors. However, the most important factor is that now there’s a good platform for legalization.

Good foundations

Only 3 states have laws that will land you in jail for a simple possession: Idaho, South Dakota and Kansas. The rest of the states have mostly decriminalized that.

A bunch of states legalized medical marijuana in one way or another. Some states like Kansas allow only for CBD, but Kansas is known for its conservatism.

Cannabis legalization has had somewhat of a domino effect.

Back in 2014 when Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, its neighboring states filed lawsuits against the state of Colorado.

In December 2014, Nebraska and Oklahoma asked the Supreme Court to file an original action against the State of Colorado, asking the Court to strike down Colorado’s legalization of cannabis.

The neighboring states argued that there was a significant spillover of cannabis which is passing through these states and illegally passing other federal borders.

The Supreme court denied this request, and soon after we saw Oklahoma legalize medical cannabis. But Oklahoma wasn’t the only neighboring state which legalized medical marijuana.

Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, and even Utah brought laws of their own regarding medical marijuana in the next 2-3 years.

The whole West coast and Nevada legalize both recreational and medical marijuana.

On the East coast, both New York and New Jersey are pushing for legalization of recreational cannabis.

Some of the smaller states on the East Coast also legalized recreational cannabis, such as Massachusetts and Maine.

This is what I mean by “having a good platform”. But the good platform doesn’t end there.

Midterms are all about weed

Congressional candidates, gubernatorial candidates, and even several officials who aren’t in the race for seats are talking about cannabis legalization left and right.

Hundreds of seats in the US Congress are up for grabs, and the voters are interested in what their legislators have to say.

Never in the history of midterms have the legislators discussed marijuana as much as they do now.

Politicians are debating legalization now more than ever because it’s what the people want to hear.

Below you’ll find a list of all the states in which cannabis is being debated as a part of the candidate’s platform:

Candidates in many other states are also finding themselves on the opposite sides of the legalization. Some, on the other hand, are on the same side.

One of the biggest wins for cannabis may happen in Texas. Very few incumbent House representatives support legalizing marijuana.

Most of the nation has probably heard of the fight between Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke. But that fight is not for cannabis, but rather for the soul of Texas.

A much more important fight is happening in Texas – the one for House Representatives.

In fact, 25 of Texas’s 36 representatives have positioned themselves against every major legislation regarding cannabis.

What’s even worse, the Democratic party is pushing out the wrong guy out of the Senate. Ted Cruz is mainly for legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana on a state level.

His partner, however, has not supported any of the seven major legislation pieces. But he’s not up for reelection, and Cruz is…

Related

We have Trump on our side?

Trump recently signed a law which pushes for less opioid prescriptions.

This law was a bipartisan effort of the government to reduce the national opioid crisis which has been hitting the US last couple of years.

Basically, the legislation passed should reduce the number of drugs that cross the US borders, especially fentanyl and other opioids.

This leaves a void which cannabis could easily fill. After all, Trump himself said on one occasion that he’d like to see medical cannabis legalized.

Recently, a GOP Congressmen said that Trump plans to push for marijuana reform right after the midterms.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) talked to President Trump on many occasions, and he claims that the President will deliver on his campaign promise.

“I’ve been talking to people inside the White House who know and inside the president’s entourage,” Rep. Rohrabacher said. “I have talked to them at length. I have been reassured that the president intends on keeping his campaign promise.”

The math behind when marijuana could be federally legalized in the United States is solid.

Predictions are saying that it will happen most likely in 2022. or 2023, which is close to the end of Trump’s first term.

If it doesn’t happen by then, I think it is very likely that we’ll see Trump run for office once again, only this time his platform will definitly be federal legalization.