Things have come a long way for the cannabis legalization movement since its first win in 1996 with the passage of Prop 215 in California. Prop 215 created the first medical cannabis program in the country which replaced the Federal government’s Compassionate Investigational New Drug program, the federal medical cannabis program that closed in 1992. Since then 20 other states and Washington DC have medical cannabis programs, and now two have recreational legal cannabis as well. While the original split in the movement was “do we support recreational or medical use?” the issue has fractured into many different possibilities.
Some states have decriminalized cannabis for personal recreational use, like California. Decriminalization means it is legal to possess as long as the cop stopping you doesn’t want to ruin your day, other than that it is still fully illegal. Decriminalization is a poor solution since growing and distribution and thus the market remain illegal. California also has a very liberal medical cannabis program, while many programs have a set list of conditions, California allows patients to be prescribed medical cannabis for any condition it aids. California also allows medical patients to use all cannabinoids in their treatment, THC, CBD, THCa, THCv, cannabigerol, and the full entourage.
America has now entered a phase where the momentum has carried cannabis legalization out into the Midwest, where more conservative values in the laboratories of Democracy have crafted new ways to legalize cannabis. Minnesota, recognizing the health benefits of cannabis, yet also the harms of smoking, just passed a law that legalizes only vaporization and other non-smoked methods.
Wisconsin just passed a law legalizing CBD-only cannabis for people suffering from seizure disorders. The Wisconsin law is one of the most narrowly tailored, only one cannabinoid and only one class of medical conditions. This is a foot in the door for legalization. With a law on the books, it becomes a matter of amending it rather than passing a new law. We are seeing states who are traditionally less tolerant of cannabis, begin to take baby steps towards a limited legalization of cannabis. These baby steps can quickly grow into leaps and bounds forward as the momentum keeps going into another election cycle.