Voters say no to (recreational) marijuana and mushrooms

The Reagan-era slogan “Just Say No” rang true at the ballot box this year as voters in multiple states rejected efforts to legalize marijuana and psychedelics.
Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota each had an amendment or a measure on the ballot to legalize marijuana. They rejected it. An initiative in Nebraska to legalize medical marijuana did end up passing. Massachusetts rejected the legalization of psychedelic substances.
In the Sunshine State, voters were asked if they would like to give adults the opportunity to buy, possess and use marijuana. Looking at vote totals from The Associated Press, the amendment failed to clear the 60% threshold needed to pass. Roughly 44% of voters said no to the amendment and 55.9% said yes.
The measures in North Dakota and South Dakota were similar — though South Dakota’s included a 2-ounce limit on marijuana. Fifty-five percent of voters said no in South Dakota and 52.5% said no in North Dakota.
Recreational marijuana has been legal in Massachusetts since 2016. Voters were asked if they would like to allow people 21 and over to use, grow and possess certain psychedelics, including magic mushrooms (psilocybin). The psychedelic drugs would only be allowed for purchase at certain locations. Voters rejected it. Fifty-seven percent of voters said no.
Unlike marijuana, psychedelics aren’t legal or decriminalized in several states. It’s really only Oregon and Colorado with a sprinkling of cities throughout the country that have made moves to do so. By contrast, nearly half the country has legalized recreational marijuana.
Only one state with drug legalization on the ballot saw an initiative pass: Nebraska. Of course, there is a key difference between Nebraska and the other states: medical versus recreational use.
Nebraska voters were presented with an initiative to legalize medical marijuana — up to 5 ounces for use and possession by patients for medical purposes. That measure passed with 70.9%. Another initiative was passed to create a government board to regulate medical marijuana for Nebraska patients.
California’s notoriously long ballot (padded with several propositions) didn’t have a question about legalization of drugs. But there was a proposition to increase penalties for some drug crimes, including some crimes involving fentanyl. This proposition also listed other measures. According to vote totals from The Associated Press, nearly 70% of voters cast their ballots in favor of it. The majority of voters in every county in the state approved the proposition.
Dallas, one of the blue dots in ruby red Texas, had its own proposition that would result in the effective decriminalization of marijuana possession under 4 ounces. It easily passed with around two-thirds of the vote. This doesn’t legalize recreational marijuana.
As with most initiatives, big money (often from out of state) is involved. So, it’s interesting to see how voters rejected these initiatives, propositions and amendments for that reason. But it seems to be part of a broader trend — Americans going a little tougher on crime.
Around a year, Gallup measured Americans’ personal safety fears at a three-decade high. Half of respondents said they were frequently worried about their car being stolen or broken into. Forty percent said there was an area within a mile of them where they were afraid to walk at night.
At the time, the FBI crime statistics showed violent crime dropped by around 2% in 2022. This quickly became a talking point — Americans felt like they were unsafe, but the numbers showed they were actually a little safer. Earlier this year, the FBI revised those statistics and turns out violent crime rose by more than 4% that year. This was first reported by John R. Lott Jr. at RealClear Investigations.
As this has been going on, some states have adopted a tougher on crime approach.
California, a sapphire blue state, not exactly known for clamping down on crime, has grown tougher on crime, The Atlantic reported. Then, there’s Oregon, which gave up its experiment with decriminalizing hard drugs earlier this year. It’s possible the latest votes on drug initiatives, propositions and amendments are more of the same — a rightward shift on crime.