November 5, 2024, was a tough day for cannabis legalization supporters.
Recreational legalization ballot questions in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota all failed.
Two medical measures passed in Nebraska but face legal challenges over the validity of the signatures required to get the measures on the ballot. Why two measures? One legalizes the medical use of cannabis, and the second regulates it.
A medical use measure also appeared on the ballot in Arkansas, but the state Supreme Court ruled before the election that the votes can’t be counted because the title and name were “misleading.”
These failures raise questions about where the movement to legalize cannabis goes from here.
The red wall holds
I’ve been researching cannabis legalization in the U.S. since 2014. I’ve previously written about how the cannabis legalization movement’s primary obstacle is the “red wall,” a term I use to refer to the 20 states where Republicans have total control of state government and recreational cannabis remains illegal.
Another four states without recreational legalization—Kansas, Wisconsin, Kentucky and North Carolina—could be described as “red wall adjacent.” These states have Democratic governors, but Republicans control the state legislatures.
Hellbound and Down 