last night's midterm elections produced significant victories for drug policy reform and marijuana legalization across the country. these results can impact local, national and international policies regarding mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex.
michigan voters approved proposal one, a ballot initiative to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana for adults 21 and over. michigan is the 10th state to legalize marijuana; the first in the midwest.
passage of amendment two in missouri and proposition two in utah make them the 32nd and 33rd states to approve medical marijuana.
florida voters approved amendment four, a groundbreaking and historic initiative to restore voting rights to 1.4 million people with drug and other felony convictions upon completion of their sentences.
embracing drug policy reforms helped a number of democratic gubernatorial candidates win last night. they include michelle lujan grisham (new mexico), gavin newsom (california), jared polis (colorado), and j.b. pritzer (illinois).
the most powerful drug policy reform opponent in the house of representatives, pete sessions of texas, lost to colin allred, a long time supporter of marijuana reform. sessions has single-handedly blocked congress from holding any votes on marijuana reform for more than a year.
the drug policy alliance and its lobbying arm, drug policy action, helped fund and played a major role in drafting proposal one in michigan. they also played a critical role in drafting and funding amendment two in missouri.
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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