2023 Cannabis Year In Review: NORML's Top Ten Events In Marijuana Policy

This article was originally published by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and appears here with permission.

#1: MORE STATES ENACT ADULT-USE MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION LAWS

Delaware, Minnesota, and Ohio enacted laws in 2023 legalizing adult-use marijuana possession and providing timelines for regulating retail cannabis markets. In addition, Maryland lawmakers passed legislation in May regulating adult-use marijuana sales. Those sales began on July 1^st. In January, lawmakers in the US Virgin Islands also approved an adult-use legalization law, though its provisions have yet to take effect.

“For the first time since the adoption of federal marijuana prohibition, more US citizens reside in jurisdictions where cannabis is state-legal than live somewhere where it is not,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said.

#2: HHS RECOMMENDS DEA RECLASSIFY CANNABIS AS A SCHEDULE III SUBSTANCE

Bloomberg News reported in August that it had obtained a leaked letter from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommending that the US Drug Enforcement Administration reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance under federal law. The Biden Administration initiated the review last year.

The DEA, which has the final authority regarding drug scheduling under the Controlled Substances Act, has yet to publicly take any action on the matter.

NORML has criticized proposals calling for cannabis to be rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule III, opining, “Rescheduling marijuana fails to provide states with the explicit legal authority to regulate it within their borders as they see fit, free from federal interference.” Rather, NORML calls for removing cannabis from the CSA altogether in a manner similar to alcohol.

#3: MORE AMERICANS THAN EVER SAY CANNABIS SHOULD BE LEGAL FOR ADULTS

A record 70 percent of US adults believe that “the use of marijuana should be legal,” according to nationwide polling data released in November by Gallup. That’s an increase of 19 percentage points since 2014, when Colorado and Washington became the first states to implement adult-use cannabis legalization, and the highest level of support ever reported by Gallup pollsters.

“There’s no ‘buyers’ remorse’ among the public when it comes to legalizing cannabis,” said NORML’s Political Director Morgan Fox. “As more states have adopted legalization, public support for this policy has risen dramatically. That’s because these policies are largely working as intended and because voters prefer legalization and regulation over the failed policy of marijuana prohibition.”

Other polling conducted by Gallup in 2023 determined that most US adults believethat marijuana use poses fewer risks to health than does either the use of alcohol or cigarettes, and that half of all Americans ages 18 and older have tried cannabis.

#4 MORE STATES ENACT WORKPLACE PROTECTIONS FOR CANNABIS CONSUMERS

Michigan and Washington adopted legislation in 2023 halting public employers from engaging in pre-employment marijuana testing for those applying to non-safety-sensitive positions. Several other states and municipalities have adopted similar measures. California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island have enacted broader workplace protection laws limiting employers’ ability to conduct on-the-job testing for marijuana metabolites or to sanction employees for their consumption of cannabis while off the job.

“These decisions reflect today’s changing cultural and legal landscape surrounding cannabis,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “It is time for workplace policies to adapt to this new reality and to cease punishing employees for activities they engage in during their off-hours that pose no legitimate threat to either workplace safety or productivity.”

#5: FEDERAL COURTS REJECT SECOND AMENDMENT BAN FOR MARIJUANA CONSUMERS

In August, judges with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a 1968 federal law prohibiting the possession or sale of a firearm to an “unlawful user” of a controlled substance should not be applied so broadly that it would criminalize all gun owners with a history of marijuana use. NORML Legal Committee members filed an amicus (aka friend of the court) brief, calling on the court to find the ban unconstitutional.

The decision came months after a federal judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma similarly ruled that the “mere status as a user of marijuana” does not justify the federal government “stripping [the defendant] of his fundamental right to possess a firearm.” A judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas also issued a similar decision in April.

NORML lawyers have also filed a similar amicus brief in another Second Amendment case in the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals.

#6: MARIJUANA ARRESTS FALL TO 30-YEAR LOW

State and local police made at least 227,108 arrests for marijuana violations last year, according to data compiled by the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. Not since the early 1990s has the FBI reported so few annual marijuana-related arrests.

Marijuana arrests peaked in the United States in 2007, when police made over 870,000 marijuana-related arrests. At that time, just under half (48 percent) of all drug-related arrests in the US were for marijuana-related violations.

#7: POTUS ISSUES PARDON PROCLAMATION FOR THOSE WITH MARIJUANA-RELATED CONVICTIONS

President Joe Biden issued a directive in December expanding the pool of marijuana offenders eligible for federal pardons. “I am issuing a Proclamation that will pardon additional offenses of simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and D.C. law,” the President stated. “Criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs.”

The President issued a similar pardon proclamation last October, and in March the Justice Department opened an online portal for eligible applicants to apply for pardon certificates. Estimates provided at that time by the US Sentencing Commission suggested that nearly 7,000 Americans with low-level federal marijuana-related convictions would be eligible for relief under the directive.

It is not yet clear how many additional citizens with federal records will be eligible for relief under the President’s latest proclamation. NORML had called upon the Administration to grant blanket pardon relief to nonviolent marijuana offenders shortly after the President took office. 

#8 TEEN MARIJUANA USE REMAINS BELOW PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS

Federally funded surveys by the University of Michigan and by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration report that rates of teens’ marijuana use are below pre-pandemic levels and near historic lows. The surveys are among the latest to affirm that the adoption of statewide adult-use legalization laws is not linked to any uptick in cannabis use by young people.

“These findings ought to reassure lawmakers and the public that cannabis access for adults can be legally regulated in a manner that is safe, effective, and that does not significantly impact young people’s consumption habits,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said.

#9: FDA FAILS TO ESTABLISH RULES FOR HEMP-DERIVED CANNABIS PRODUCTS

Representatives of the US Food and Drug Administration announced in February that they were abandoning efforts to craft regulations governing the production and sale of hemp-derived products containing high levels of CBD and other cannabinoids. Instead, the agency called upon Congress to address the issue. The FDA had studied the issue for five years before determining that the agency’s existing rules governing foods and dietary supplements are inadequate for addressing hemp-derived products.

For years, NORML and other groups have urged the FDA to establish regulatory guidelines governing the production, testing, labeling, and marketing of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Analyses conducted by the FDA and others have consistently reported that many of these over-the-counter products are of variable quality and potency and may contain contaminants, adulterants, or elevated levels of heavy metals.

#10: KENTUCKY BECOMES 38^TH STATE TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL CANNABIS ACCESS

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear signed legislation in March directing the state’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services to implement a comprehensive medical cannabis access program. The program is expected to be operational on January 1, 2025.
“For years, Kentuckians have been calling for medical cannabis legalization and now they will have the freedom to safely access regulated, therapeutic products right here at home,” said Matthew Bratcher, Executive Director of Kentucky NORML. “While there is still work to be done, this is a historic first step and we look forward to continuing our work representing Kentucky patients.”

NORML was founded in 1970, making it the oldest continuously functioning cannabis advocacy group in the U.S. and therefore the world.

Image courtesy of NORML