US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, alas, is not among this tidal wave of sentiment, but the train may have left the station on him and the other hold outs, despite the fact that many of the 7% who still haven’t got the memo hold positions of political or legal authority….
Meanwhile, from the article:
“Any minute now, medical cannabis will be legal in West Virginia. West Virginia! It’s a state that voted for Trump by nearly 42 points in November, and approved medical marijuana via its Republican legislature last week. Democratic Gov. Jim Justice (D) is open to signing it.
And West Virginia is on the tail end of the medical cannabis trend. Half the population of the country, spread out among some 28 states and the District of Columbia, can legally smoke some form cannabis for medical purposes. All but three states legalize some part of the drug found in the cannabis plant for medical cause (mostly the compound cannabidiol, which research suggests doesn’t get people high but can help with anxiety and pain).
West Coast states launched the medical marijuana trend almost two decades ago. Western, redder states with a libertarian streak followed.
And now, a February Quinnipiac University poll found that 93 percent of voters support medical marijuana being legally prescribed by a doctor.
In 2017, all that’s left for medical marijuana advocates to conquer is more traditional Republican states, which they’re doing. West Virginia is the third Republican-controlled state legislature in a row to pass a medical marijuana bill. In November, voters in all or mostly GOP-controlled Ohio and Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana by ballot.
‘I remember 10 years ago, when I started working on theses issues, it was hard to have a conversation about limited medical use with a lot of legislatures,’ said Matt Simon of the Marijuana Policy Project. ‘They didn’t even want to take meetings on it. The tide has shifted dramatically — it used to feel like we were trying to push a boulder up a mountain, and it feels like we’re going downhill with the wind at our backs.’
TRUCE take: “The trend is our friend!”
#MMJ #USpol #WVpol #Utpol #Polling #GetSerious #TRUCE
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See full article – Analysis | If Jeff Sessions wants to crack down on medical marijuana, he’ll have to battle more than half the country
