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2020 Cannabis Legislation Year In Review – States N-Z

All strains / Cannabis / CBD Products / How to choose / Hybrid / Indica / Sativa / THC / February 1, 2021

Despite all the curveballs 2020 has thrown us, cannabis legislation has been making big strides. As a means of easing pressure on prisons, injecting some much-needed cash into state coffers, and generally giving the people something to look forward to, many states explored cannabis legalization through an array of legal means.

 

Here is a continued list of those states exploring cannabis legalization, those who already have legalized it this year, and those who are fighting tooth and nail to keep it off the docket.

Nebraska

While Nebraska has historically been noted for its feral hemp plants, the argument for recreational marijuana is one that is hotly contested in the state. Medical Cannabis has yet to be accepted by state legislature, with the most recent example reaching the Nebraska Supreme Court in 2020 only to be shot down for containing more than one question.

New Hampshire 

On January 28, 2020, New Hampshire House Bill 1648 was approved, which provided for adults to possess up to 3/4 ounce of cannabis and five grams of hashish, to grow up to six plants, and for gifting cannabis products between adults. The bill would move on to pass the House on February 20.

On February 6, 2020, New Hampshire SB 420 passed in the Senate, allowing qualified adults to cultivate cannabis for their own medical use or for those under their care.

New Jersey

NJ Question 1, otherwise known as the Marijuana Legalization Amendment, was on the ballot in NJ as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment. On November 3rd, 2020 Public Question 1 was approved.

This added an amendment to the state constitution that legalized the recreational use of marijuana, also known as cannabis, for persons age 21 and older and legalized the cultivation, processing, and sale of retail marijuana.

The constitutional amendment will take effect on January 1, 2021. New Jersey is the first state in the Mid-Atlantic to legalize marijuana.

New Mexico 

New Mexico introduced SB115 in mid-January, 2020. The bill afforded for legalized adult use of cannabis. The bill also included a low-income medical cannabis user fund.

The bill was approved less than two weeks later in the Senate Public Affairs Committee but tabled by the Senate Judiciary Committee in mid-February.

New York

This year, Governor Andrew Cuomo submitted a budget proposal to the New York Assembly that included legalization and regulatory frameworks in line with the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act of 2019.

S.7509 and A.9609 included the cannabis provisions and creation of the New York Office of Cannabis Management.

Senator Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Crystal Peoples-Stokes would set the legal cannabis possession limit for adults to 3 ounces, the highest limit in the nation.

With close attention being paid to their neighbors in New Jersey, New York hopes to set an effective structure for cannabis regulation by April 2021.

Ohio

The Ohio Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Amendment initiative was filed March 2, 2020, for approval by the state Attorney General.

In its current state, medical cannabis is legal while recreational cannabis is decriminalized. Ohio passed a bill (24-5) in June that increased the possession limit of misdemeanor offenses from 100 to 200 grams. This means that, if adopted, the harshest punishment available to offenders is a $150 fine and no jail time.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma has a flourishing medical marijuana program with over 360,000, or nearly 10% of the state’s population, licensed patients. The state has the highest percentage of the population registered as medical marijuana patients in the US.

Oklahoma State Question 807 brought forth an amendment to the state constitution that would legalize adult recreational use of cannabis. The measure is cleared for signature gathering.

South Dakota 

Constitutional Amendment A was announced as qualified for the ballot by the Secretary of State on January 6 with the intent of legalizing recreational cannabis use for qualifying adults. The amendment was passed and will go into effect July 1, 2021, effectively legalizing recreational marijuana in the state of South Dakota.

Tennessee

Possession of Small amounts of cannabis has been decriminalized in Tennessee since 2015. However, In July 2020, Nashville partially decriminalized cannabis possession, and the DA committed to not pursuing charges of marijuana possession up to half an ounce.

The legislation is currently pending for Tennessee SB1849, which legalizes and regulates the use, possession, and sale of marijuana for adults. If passed, the bill would allow adults age 21 and over to possess up to a half-ounce of cannabis.

Vermont

H.511 was passed by the state House in January 2018. This bill legalized adult personal possession of cannabis up to an ounce and afforded for the cultivation of up to two plants. However, the bill provided no regulatory framework for sales in the state.

Regulated sales entered into law in Vermont following the passage of S.54 in October 2020.

US Virgin Islands

In an attempt to bolster the Government Employees Retirement System, USVI Governor Albert Bryan proposed an amendment to the existing medical marijuana regulatory framework to expand to all adults. This provided for recreational cannabis use within a taxable retail framework along with a day-pass for tourists that would cost $10.

Virginia

Virginia House Bill 972 decriminalized cannabis possession up to a half-ounce for adults in 2020. SB 2 would be passed the next day with similar guidelines for decriminalization.

On March 8, 2020, the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate passed legislation on a marijuana decriminalization plan. In April 2020, this bill to decriminalize relatively low-quantity marijuana possession was approved by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, and the bill would go into effect July 1, 2020.

On November 16, 2020, Governor Northam announced that he would introduce and support legislation to legalize marijuana in the Commonwealth of Virginia in mid-November, 2020 with special emphasis placed on social equity, racial equity, economic equity, public health, protections for young people, upholding the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act, and data collection.

On February 6, 2020, SJ67 was passed. This resolution directed the legislature’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study cannabis legalization and regulation by 2022.

Two separate bills, HB87 and HB 269, which seek to address the legalization of simple possession, have been deferred until the 2021 legislative session.

 

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