In midterm elections, there was little policy debate over the addiction and overdose crisis that last year killed more than 108,000 Americans, but voters were asked to decide on a number of ballot measures concerning marijuana legalization, flavored tobacco and vaping products, and legalizing psychedelics. On marijuana legalization, voters in Maryland and Missouri said yes to decriminalization, while Arkansas, and North and South Dakota rejected ballot measures. The latest results were not unexpected, as the “no” states lean conservative while “yes” votes were favored in more liberal Maryland. Currently, 19 states plus the District of Columbia already allow adult-use pot, and 40 states have legalized medical cannabis. Now, the newly legal pot states must work out the details of a regulatory structure for the new market, including rules governing marketing, packaging, THC levels in powerful marijuana products, and local opt-out provisions to ban dispensaries. Only two states—Vermont and Connecticut—have implemented dosing caps on THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, which is linked to psychotic episodes. Meanwhile, Californians overwhelmingly approved a sweeping ban on all flavored tobacco products, including vapes, which are targeted at young people and fueling a vaping epidemic in this age group. Although further legal action might delay implementation, along with pending federal rules by the FDA, this would make California the biggest state so far to ban flavored products, a move seen as a rebuke to the tobacco and vaping industries which lobbied heavily against it. And in Colorado, a ballot measure to legalize the possession of a variety of certain psychedelics is still too close to call. The city of Denver has already legalized magic mushrooms but this initiative would be statewide and also includes the creation of so-called psilocybin “healing centers" opposed by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals.
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Rosenthal Center for AddictIon Studies