As we reflect back on our many hard-earned victories of 2021, it is apparent that we have much to be thankful for.
This year, the possession and use of cannabis by adults became legal in five additional states: Connecticut, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Virginia. That means that an additional 42 million Americans have been liberated from the oppressive and failed policy of marijuana prohibition!
We are also thankful that more states are taking actions to right the past wrongs of cannabis criminalization. In recent months, state officials in California, Illinois, New York, Virginia, and elsewhere have moved to either seal or expunge the convictions of some 2.2 million Americans who formerly faced the lifelong stigma of having a marijuana-related criminal record.
And we are thankful that we are continuing to win the hearts and minds of the American people. A record 68 percent of US adults now say that marijuana ought to be legal nationwide, according to the latest polling compiled by Gallup. This includes majorities of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans – as well as voters of virtually all ages.
But while we have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, we must not lose sight of the fact that we still have much more to do.
As we begin to look toward 2022, we see new and important opportunities ahead of us. We see pathways to victory in various statehouses across this country, like Rhode Island and Maryland, and we anticipate voters in several additional states, such as Missouri and Nebraska, to approve marijuana reform ballot initiatives next November. At the federal level, for the first time we have dueling Democratic and Republican-led efforts – such as The MORE Act, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act and the newly introduced States Reform Act — to repeal federal cannabis prohibition and open up pathways to interstate marijuana commerce.
That is why today, while we celebrate our progress and also gear up for the battles ahead, we are asking you to make a generous donation to NORML.
