It goes without saying that 2020 was a crummy year. Between the COVID-19 pandemic that claimed more than 330,000 American lives and a deep economic slump that claimed countless jobs and livelihoods, most people are probably glad to turn a new page. Which is why it is so exceptional that 2020 saw more progress towards the full legalization of marijuana than any year before.
January 1: Legal Marijuana Sales Start in Illinois
Starting the year with a bang was one of the country’s cannabis legalization success stories. Illinois became the first state to fully legalize marijuana through an act of the state legislature rather than a ballot measure. Illinois incorporated bold social justice measures to its weed legalization efforts. On January 1, legal weed started being sold, and the state exploded record after record in terms of sales figures, especially to out-of-state (specifically Wisconsin) customers.
July 1: Virginia Decriminalizes Marijuana and Pushes for Legalization
Before 2020, simple possession of marijuana was a crime punishable by jail time, a hefty fine and the loss of one’s driver’s license. This changed when the state legislature chose to transform possession into a minor civil violation, reducing the penalty to a maximum of $25. The most exciting part? Virginia lawmakers also passed a resolution giving the state until July 2022 to establish a clear plan to fully legalize recreational cannabis, as well.
October 7: Vermont Legalizes Adult-use Marijuana
Vermont became the second state, after Illinois, to fully legalize marijuana through an act of the state legislature. While the state had legalized possession and use of marijuana since 2018, it was still illegal to sell and buy it. This changed in October, when lawmakers and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott finally agreed to remove the last roadblock to legalization.
November 3: Marijuana Reform Wins Every Ballot Measure on Election Day
Without a doubt the single biggest day for marijuana reform in 2020—and the most impactful day since Colorado and Washington kickstarted the marijuana legalization frenzy in 2012, also on an Election Day.
On November 3, not only did Donald Trump lose the presidency, but numerous marijuana reform proposals were on the ballots. Every single one won. Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota all legalized recreational marijuana at the same time. South Dakota also legalized medical marijuana, and so did Mississippi. Other illicit substances were on the ballot: Washington, D.C., decriminalized psychedelic plants, and Oregon decriminalized all drugs. Most importantly, these measures all won with a generous margin, garnering bipartisan support from a large swath of the Republican electorate, which seemed to be opposed to reform until then.
November 17: Madison Reforms Local Marijuana Laws
Wisconsin’s capital was always a progressive-minded city when it comes to marijuana—Madison decriminalized marijuana in 1977 and allowed residents to consume it freely in private since then. Now, thanks to a new municipal ordinance, the Madison Police Department lost its ability to issue citations for public possession of a personal amount of weed, another stride forward for human rights in a state that stubbornly refuses to reform.
December 4: House Approves the MORE Act
For the first time in history, the United States Congress voted on—and approved!—a bill to end the federal prohibition of cannabis. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which would remove cannabis from the list of controlled substances and thus make it legal by default but allowing states to set their own rules, was approved in the House of Representatives in a 228-164 vote. While it seems impossible that the MORE Act will be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, it establishes that Congress is ready to bring an end to the war on marijuana; only the Republican senators now stand in the way.
December 9: House Approves the Medical Marijuana Research Act
After passing the MORE Act, the House doubled down on marijuana reform by passing the Medical Marijuana Research Act with a large majority. There was solid bipartisan support for this bill that would allow researchers to study the marijuana that is already sold legally in states that passed cannabis reform. After decades spent without access to legal cannabis to study, researchers would finally be able to better understand the substance that tens of millions of Americans already consume regularly. Once again, the Republican-led Senate is the last obstacle to an otherwise open-and-shut bill that should be considered common sense.
The January runoff election in Georgia, which is an extension of the green wave of cannabis reform of 2020, will determine which party controls the Senate going forward. Beyond federal progress that can be achieved if the Senate falls into the hands of Democrats, other states and territories have been working throughout the year to follow in the steps of Illinois, Vermont, Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota. New Mexico, New York, Minnesota, Maryland, Connecticut and the U.S. Virgin Islands have all seen significant, far-reaching efforts to decriminalize and/or legalize marijuana entirely.
If 2020 demonstrated one thing regarding cannabis legalization, it is that reform seems to be moving increasingly fast. The more states enact reform, the more states are likely to follow suit in the months and years that follow. We have now reached a point where most states have gone down the path of marijuana reform and federal lawmakers are starting to see success when pushing for change. Here is to hoping that 2021 will see even more progress than 2020 did—perhaps as far as the end of the federal prohibition of marijuana.
