Vermont has Gone Green

For anyone that has ever had a social studies or government class, you know all about the foundation of the U.S. government and the separation of powers between the states and the federal government known as federalism. Now how exactly is a simple plant threatening the whole institution of American government?


The cannabis plant has stirred quite the controversy in the U.S. for many years, and the legalization of it in the states while the federal government still opposes it has called federalism into question. Who has more power? The correct answer is the federal government. The laws put in place by the federal government are the supreme laws of the land. How then are states defying federal laws and getting away with it? It appears that in this case that the federal government has decided to take a step back and give the states a pass. Considering the new administration's more conservative way of governing, will the federal government soon crack down on these defiant states, or will they reverse the federal laws to accompany the changing values and desires of many of the American public? These questions cannot be answered right now but they are a good starting point for understanding this conflict and the possible outcomes of it.


The United States has been in a long fought battle against this leafy green plant for more than a century. The first laws to prohibit or control the use of cannabis in the U.S. were enacted in the early 1900s, with the ban in Massachusetts. Then in 1937, the first federal legislature banning cannabis use was signed into law by President Roosevelt (Cannabis Laws Timeline). From then on it has been a long fought battle between the states and the federal government. Each fighting to stake a claim on the allowance, or prohibition of cannabis use.
Currently, on a federal level, it is illegal to possess, buy, or sell cannabis (Federal Cannabis Laws). As most people know the federal laws trump (not to be ironic) the state laws. Therefore, even though the recreational, and medical use of cannabis is legal in many states, it is still illegal on the federal level. This means that if a federal law enforcement officer were to catch someone with cannabis, they would be charged with the federal crime of possessing, buying, or selling cannabis, despite what the state's laws may allow.
In recent years this debate/war between the states and the federal government over cannabis legalization has escalated. In 2017 alone, the Cannabis industry turned a profit of over $9 billion despite the fact that cannabis still remains federally illegal. Currently, there are 9 U.S. states plus D.C. that have legalized the recreational use of cannabis, and thirty more states have legalized it for medicinal purposes (Where it's legal).
These numbers are only expected to rise in the near future with more states jumping on the legalization bandwagon. The industry is becoming more competitive and state's are eager to join this very profitable market. One argument that many state's have been citing for the legalization is that it will boost their economy and provide jobs. By 2021 the industry is projected to do sales totaling $21 billion and provide jobs for 292,000 people (Where it's legal).
In more recent news, on January 1st California took great strides by opening an entirely new market this was accomplished by licensing over four hundred new businesses (Recent News). Also, even more recently, Vermont made a landmark decision to legalize cannabis through it state legislature. This is in comparison to all other states where cannabis has been legalized by initiative ballots (Recent News).


The legalization of cannabis through state legislature versus a voter based initiative ballot sends a strong message to both the federal government and the rest of the states. It shows that the use of marijuana has become so widely accepted and normal that state legislators feel justified in voluntarily signing its legalization into law.

While this is a big win for many legalization advocates, they still feel there is a lot more work to be done. While this new legislature allows the recreational use of marijuana, it does not specifically allow for the sale of it. Advocates believe this is the next important obstacle to overcome, and by doing so they hope to help decrease the black market and crime violence that has emerged in response to the restrictive laws.

Comments

  1. SophSteinFebruary 1, 2018 at 7:06 AM

    It would be interesting to explore how legalization would effect the economy of the drug dealing population of the lower socioeconomic class in future blog posts since you started to get into crime in your last paragraph.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 1, 2018 at 7:08 AM

    I liked how you discussed the federal side of things, a side people tend to forget exists. But maybe if all 50 states individually legalize use (possibly sale) it was automatically overrule the federal law. I feel like its only a matter of time till the entire country starts to shift because we have already seen a significant shift on opinions of medical use which has changed a lot of lives.

    ReplyDelete
  3. bevFebruary 1, 2018 at 10:16 AM

    I was just in Seattle last weekend, and with their legalization of cannabis, I certainly saw quite a bit of difference between different states. However, with Jeff Sessions pushing for stricter controls on cannabis, I feel like federal legalization is not possible in the foreseeable future.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Emily KimFebruary 1, 2018 at 11:00 AM

    This topic was extremely interesting. I feel like it has been this ongoing, never-ending discussion of the legalization of marijuana or not. Even in my Psychology class we discussed the pros and cons of marijuana, which really goes to show how prevalent this issue is. It was really interesting how you connected the topic of cannabis and the recent news going on in Vermont. Overall, nice read.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jacob GlenisterFebruary 5, 2018 at 9:11 PM

    While I have seen the news about cannabis being legalized in an ever-growing number of areas, I hadn't realized its full impact on the federalization debate until now. Seeing as it is now one part of that issue, it seems to have joined the ever-growing list of controversies about what states can and cannot legislate (the example that most readily springs to mind is DC's handgun ban a few years ago).

    ReplyDelete

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