Governors Across The U.S. Tout Marijuana Reform Progress In State Of The State Speeches And Budgets

Governors across the U.S. have been taking the opportunity to tout marijuana reform accomplishments as part of their annual State of the State speeches and budget requests this month.

From New York to South Dakota, the comments and proposals from state executives demonstrate how cannabis has become more mainstream and is being talked about in high profile venues alongside more traditional fare such as taxes, education and infrastructure.

It’s also part of a growing theme, as governors have increasingly brought up marijuana policy in State of the State addresses each year to kick off the new year as the legalization movement spreads.

Here’s a look at what governors are saying about marijuana policy in 2022: 

New Jersey

While adult-use marijuana retail sales have yet to launch in New Jersey after voters approved a 2020 legalization referendum, the state’s top executive said in his State of the State address that he’s expecting an economic boon.

“Many jobs await in the cannabis industry ready to take off,” Gov. Phil Murphy (R) said.

The governor also said separately in his second inaugural address this month that “businesses in the new cannabis industry that we are setting up in the name of social justice” are part of efforts to “continue growing the innovation economy that will power our future and make us a model for the nation and the world.”

Businesses on the cutting edge of new technologies that will revolutionize our grasp of the possible.

Businesses in the new cannabis industry that we are setting up in the name of social justice.

In online gaming and sports betting, which we now dominate.

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) January 18, 2022

As the state prepares to implement legal cannabis sales, Murphy said late last year that he’s open to giving adults the right to cultivate marijuana for personal use even though it’s not currently written into the law.

New Mexico

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) talked in here State of the State speech about the economic potential of the marijuana industry under the legalization law she signed last year.

“We’re expanding our economic footprint into every single community,” the governor said in her State of the State address. “Legal cannabis is going to create thousands of jobs and serious tax revenue for local governments to support local services in every corner of our state.”

Legal cannabis is going to create thousands of jobs & serious tax revenue to support local services.

Clean hydrogen will support thousands of jobs, especially in rural New Mexico, while helping us sprint toward our net-zero carbon deadlines and decarbonize transportation.

— Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) January 18, 2022

New York

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) released a State of the State book earlier this month that called for the creation of a $200 million public-private fund to specifically help promote social equity in the state’s burgeoning marijuana market.

The governor said that while cannabis business licenses have yet to be approved since legalization was signed into law last year, the market stands to generate billions of dollars, and it’s important to “create opportunities for all New Yorkers, particularly those from historically marginalized communities.”

That proposal was also cited in Hochul’s executive budget, which was released last week. The budget also estimated that New York stands to generate more than $1.25 billion in marijuana tax revenue over the next six years.

The briefing book for the executive budget touts how Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has “prioritized getting New York’s cannabis industry up and running” since marijuana was legalized under her predecessor last year. That includes appointing key regulators who’ve been “creating and implementing a comprehensive regulatory framework.”

Rhode Island

The governor of Rhode Island included a proposal to legalize marijuana as part of his annual budget plan—the second time he’s done so. And time around, he also added new language to provide for automatic cannabis expungements in the state.

Gov. Dan McKee (D) released his request for the 2023 fiscal year on Thursday, calling for adult-use legalization as lawmakers say they’re separately nearing a deal on enacting the reform. It appears that an outstanding disagreement between the governor and legislators concerning what body should regulate the program remains unresolved based on the new budget proposal, however.

In general, McKee’s plan would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to one ounce of cannabis, though it would not provide a home grow option. Adults could also store up to five ounces of marijuana in secured storage in their primary residence.

“The governor recommends creating a strictly regulated legal market for adult-use cannabis in the state,” an executive summary states. “This proposal would create a weight-based excise tax on marijuana cultivation, an additional retail excise tax of 10 percent, and also apply sales tax to cannabis transactions.”

South Dakota

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) isn’t a fan of adult-use legalization, going so far as to fund a lawsuit against a voter-approved 2020 reform initiative that ultimately led to a court ruling voiding the law. Her office has even suggested that activists behind the successful legalization campaign should front the legal bills for the case.

However, she seems to recognize the popularity of the issue and has recently attempted to associate herself with the implementation of the separate medical cannabis legalization law that voters also approved, as she did in her State of the State address this month.

“I take our citizens’ health seriously. I don’t make these decisions lightly. And when we create new policy, we’re going to do everything we can to get it right from day one,” Noem said. “Our state’s medical cannabis program is one example.”

“It was launched on schedule according to the timeline passed by South Dakota voters,” she said. “I know there will be some debate about that program this session. My focus is on making sure South Dakota has the safest, most responsible, and well-run medical cannabis program in the country.”

Noem tried to get the legislature to approve a bill to delay implementation of the medical cannabis program for an additional year, but while it cleared the House, negotiators were unable to reach an agreement with the Senate in conference, delivering a defeat to the governor.

In response, her office started exploring a compromise last year, with one proposal that came out of her administration to decriminalize possession of up to one ounce of cannabis, limit the number of plants that patients could cultivate to three and prohibit people under 21 from qualifying for medical marijuana.

Advocates weren’t enthused with the proposal, and now they’re taking a two-track approach to enacting broader legalization legislatively and through the ballot.

Virginia

In his final State of the Commonwealth address this month, now former-Gov. Ralph Northam (D) talked about the criminal justice implications of his state’s move to legalize marijuana last year.

“We also worked closely with you to make sure our criminal justice system reflects the Virginia that we are today. Too often, our modern-day punishments and practices have their roots in a more discriminatory and unfair past,” he said. “That’s why we’ve made marijuana use legal.”

Too often, our modern-day punishments and practices have their roots in a more discriminatory and unfair past.

That’s why we’ve made marijuana use legal. That’s also why we have ended use of the death penalty in Virginia—the first southern state to do so. #VASOTC

— Governor Ralph Northam (@VAGovernor73) January 13, 2022

He also thanked the legislators who championed the reform “for their work on this policy, which is complicated, but important.”

Meanwhile, the new governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, said recently that while he’s not interested in re-criminalizing marijuana possession, which became legal in the state last summer, but he feels there’s “still work to be done” before he gets behind creating a market for commercial sales and production.

Bipartisan Pennsylvania Senators File Bill To Let Medical Marijuana Patients Grow Their Own Plants

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

Marijuana Prohibition Was Designed As Racist System, Virginia Governor Says In State Of The Commonwealth Speech

Marijuana prohibition was intentionally set up “generations ago” to discriminate against people of color, the governor of Virginia said on Wednesday, calling for legalization to resolve those disparities.

Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said during his State of the Commonwealth address that cannabis criminalization is an example of how “our criminal justice system treats different people unfairly,” adding that Black people are more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white people despite comparable rates of usage.

“That happens because that’s how the system was set up generations ago,” he said. “In fact, one of the early leaders of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency [sic] was clear that marijuana laws should be written explicitly to target people of color. And so they were, and they’ve been targeting people for years.”

Watch the governor talk about marijuana policy below: 

The speech came on the same day that Northam unveiled a comprehensive legalization bill, which is being carried by leaders in both the House and Senate and is scheduled for an initial hearing in the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services on Friday.

That legislation contains provisions aimed at promoting social equity in the market by giving those most impacted by the drug war licensing priorities and financial incentives to participate.

“It’s time to join 16 [sic] other states and make marijuana legal, and end the current system rooted in inequity,” he said, over-counting the number of currently legal states by one. “We’ve done the research, and we can do this the right way, leading with social equity, public health, and public safety. Reforming our marijuana laws is one way to ensure that Virginia is a more just state that works better for everyone.”

It’s time to join 16 other states and make marijuana legal, and end the current system rooted in inequity.

By legalizing and taxing it, we can use the revenue to help communities most disproportionately impacted by the inequities in our laws. #VASOTC

— Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA) January 14, 2021

Northam said that cannabis represents a “cash crop that rivals tobacco—even here in Virginia.”

Legalization, the governor argued, can boost state revenue, and some of that money can be invested in disproportionately impacted communities, as well as help fund pre-K education for the state’s “most vulnerable three- and four-year-olds—children who deserve the best start in life.” That’s something that First Lady Pamela Northam has pushed.

Northam also said that lawmakers should take steps to give relief to people who have been previously harmed by cannabis criminalization.

“Rooting out inequities includes expunging the records of people who were convicted of this and certain other crimes in the past,” he said. “It’s time to act, during this session, to have the robust debate about how to best conduct the process of expunging people’s records. This will make our system more just and equal, and it needs action this session.”

Both the House of Delegates and Senate passed expungements bills during a special session last year, but negotiators failed to work out a deal on a unified approach.

The legislature did decriminalize simple marijuana possession last year, but advocates have kept up the fight to enact legalization in the Commonwealth. Northam formally came on board with the policy change in November.

As part of the decriminalization legislation, a legislative commission and a separate working group were required to look at how to effectively implement legalization, and they submitted recommendations to Northam’s office late last year. The governor included provisions to lay the groundwork for the reform in a budget proposal last month.

While advocates have been supportive of the legislature’s efforts to advance legalization this session, several have already expressed concerns about specific provisions of the governor’s bill that criminalize underage possession and increase penalties for public consumption.

They also take issue with the fact that marijuana possession would continue to be illegal while regulations are developed, which could continue the trend of racial disparities in enforcement.

The @GovernorVA proposes to create new crimes subject to disparate enforcement against Black Virginians.

Marijuana possession would continue to be illegal as the new market is being set up. Black people will continue to be policed at much higher rates than white people. https://t.co/sp0r9Pqqgv

— ACLU of Virginia (@ACLUVA) January 14, 2021

Separate legislation to legalize cannabis for adult use was filed by Del. Steve Heretick (D) last week.

Meanwhile, legislation to stop police from searching people or seizing property based solely on the smell of marijuana in Virginia is set to take effect after lawmakers adopted recommended changes from the governor in October.

Also during the recently concluded special session, Northam signed another bill that will allow people issued summonses for cannabis offenses under the state’s new decriminalization law to prepay their civil penalty rather than having show up in court.

Northam isn’t the only governor using his annual address to discuss cannabis reform.

During his State of the State speech on Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) reaffirmed his commitment to passing legislation to get a legal marijuana market up and running after voters approved a legalization referendum in November.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Monday discussed the need to legalize marijuana in 2021 during his State of the State address.

In Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) also talked about his intent to work with lawmakers to enact legalization during his State of the State address last week.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said in his State of the Commonwealth address last week that “it is time to legalize medical marijuana.”

Also, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) released her agenda for this year’s session, and part of her plan to bolster the economy and increase revenue to the state is to enact a legal cannabis market.

New Mexico Governor Says Marijuana Legalization Is A 2021 Priority

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.