Since I got the data below in an email, I cannot link to the source, so I decided to re-print most all of the email.
2016 could be the biggest year yet for marijuana policy reform. By year’s end we could double the number of states with legalization, and we could ensure that more than half of all states in the U.S. have medical marijuana programs.
Voters in anywhere from seven to twelve states will consider important cannabis initiatives when they go to the ballot box this November. Here’s a quick overview:
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
In Florida, where a medical marijuana initiative narrowly failed to clear the state’s 60% approval threshold in 2014, a new medical cannabis measure has already qualified to appear on the 2016 ballot. If passed, Florida would be the first southern state to pass a comprehensive medical marijuana program.
And in Ohio, where a corporate-backed legalization initiative that even many anti-prohibition activists opposed was defeated last year, reform advocates are organizing a medical marijuana ballot campaign.
Arkansas voters could also see medical marijuana on their ballot, thanks to a strong grassroots organizing campaign currently underway. And activists in neighboring Missouri also seem poised to qualify a medical cannabis initiative for this November’s ballot.
FULL LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA
Organizers in Maine and Nevada have already succeeded in putting full legalization measures on their states’ November ballots and are now busy campaigning to help those initiatives win enough voter support to be enacted.
In Arizona, California and Massachusetts, major reform organizations — including the Drug Policy Alliance and the Marijuana Policy Project — are investing substantial resources to collect signatures and are expected to soon qualify ballot measures to end prohibition.
Things are also looking promising in Michigan, where an impressive grassroots campaign is collecting legalization signatures and seems likely to meet the threshold for ballot access.
Many people — including me — live in states that lack a voter initiative process. For us, our job as reform advocates is to convince our state legislators to take up the issue.
Lawmakers in Rhode Island and Vermont, non-initiative states that have nonetheless tended to be ahead of the curve when it comes to marijuana policy, have indicated they may either pass legalization bills this year or put non-binding referendums on the ballot so voters can weigh in on the issue in November.
And if we succeed in most or all of these states this year, momentum will increase and it’ll be even easier for more states to come on board in the next election cycle.
On-the-ground campaigns are doing critically important organizing work in each of the states we mentioned above. But our role here at Marijuana Majority is a little different.
We’re working to shape culture and media coverage to remove the stigma from marijuana and create fertile ground for reform to take root and grow.
More and more Americans from all walks of life are coming forward to demand an end to the harmful policy of marijuana prohibition, and on a daily basis we are making sure their voices are not ignored by the press and politicians.
We are the Marijuana Majority. We don’t believe that people should be treated like criminals for using marijuana. We don’t believe that communities should be destroyed because of prohibition policies.
And this year, we are going to score a record number of wins.
Thank you for standing up and speaking out,
Tom Angell
Chairman and Founder
Marijuana Majority
P.S. Unlike our well-financed opposition, we have no endowments or revenue-generating investments, and receive no public funding. We can only continue to keep up our momentum if we have support from people like you. Please donate today.
P.P.S. Activists in Montana are also working on a ballot measure to push back against attacks that legislators and courts have made on the state's voter-approved medical marijuana law. And, in addition to the measures detailed above, there are a number of other grassroots efforts trying to get on state ballots this year. However, due to funding and time constraints, we don’t expect other initiatives to end up qualifying in 2016. But if all goes well in the states we listed, reform should be coming to your state soon!
Marijuana Majority
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