The Rise of Anti-Legalization Efforts

When it comes to any hot-button issue like cannabis legalization, there are always two sides, often without much middle ground. For those looking through a pro-legalization lens, efforts to continue federal prohibition and bar states from legalizing should be a thing of the past. 

Whereas, for proponents of anti-legalization, prohibition is a no-brainer. To fully understand this debate, we must examine the other side and explore the anti-legalization agenda. Let’s assess its potential impact both federally and statewide, and determine if a middle ground exists.

The Roots of Anti-Legalization Efforts in the U.S.

In 1937, Congress enacted the Marijuana Tax Act after repealing federal alcohol prohibition in 1933. As a reaction to the many Mexican immigrants who brought cannabis with them across the border from Mexico in the early 1900s, anti-cannabis propaganda was widespread regarding these immigrants and other minorities, like African Americans. They prominently targeted these groups, claiming they were susceptible to ‘deviant behaviors’ caused by the “devil weed”.

Nixon’s War on Drugs

The Nixon administration took the racially-charged propaganda behind cannabis prohibition even further by unofficially beginning the “War on Drugs” in 1971. Cannabis was classified as a Schedule I drug along with heroin and meth in the Controlled Substances Act. This policy ensured significant penalties and incarceration for possession, cultivation, and trafficking for anyone found guilty in the U.S. So began decades of millions of arrests, particularly of African Americans, and an inability for researchers to study and unlock cannabis’s full medicinal value due to its status as federally illegal. 

Interestingly enough, the New York Times released an article in September of 2024, whereby a 1973 audio recording was unearthed of Nixon declaring he knew cannabis “is not particularly dangerous”, despite affecting millions of lives and families due to his policies ever since. Harper’s magazine also released an article in 2016, with clips from an interview with a top Nixon advisor who made a similar admission. Watergate co-conspirator, John Erlichmann, admitted on tape that the administration used the War On Drugs as a means to counter the voices of the anti-war hippies, as well as pro-Civil Rights efforts by African-Americans, to “disrupt those communities”.

Legalization Efforts Since

The efforts of anti-legalization proponents have continued since then, most significantly in the 1980s with the “Just Say No” movement by First Lady Nancy Reagan. The campaign exerted a massive influence on American society and families. Incarceration rates for cannabis possession and distribution continued to rise, as well as public opinion against marijuana among parental and morality groups.

However, all of the efforts to keep marijuana users in fear of incarceration began to shift once voters in the state of California legalized the medical use of marijuana in 1996–a first in the U.S. 

Since then, states in many diverse areas of the country have begun to enact their medical marijuana programs under the argument of state rights. This eventually culminated in a massive victory–Adult-Use passage in 2012 by voters in the state of Colorado. The legalization of weed for adults 21 and over has opened the floodgates, prompting 24 states to establish their own recreational, adult-use laws.  Along with Adult-Use legalization in many states in the U.S., the 2018 Farm Bill added another dimension by introducing a widespread gray market for products containing other cannabinoids like CBD, Delta-8, and THCA. 

Current Anti-Legalization Efforts in the U.S.

Current efforts to keep legal, black market, and gray market cannabinoid-containing products out of the hands of Americans have been working just as hard as those seeking to legalize. The intersection of socio-political and legal maneuvers by the anti-legalization crowd has been gaining traction in recent years to stem the tide of legalization. This is evident from the fact that 3 out of 4 states with Adult Use initiatives on the ballot in November of 2024 weren’t successful. 

Smart Approaches to Government (SAM)

According to its website, the lobbying group known as Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is “an alliance of organizations and individuals dedicated to a health-first approach to marijuana.” Groups like SAM claim to work in the interest of public health and safety first and foremost, perhaps to distance themselves from the prejudicial roots of anti-legalization in the past. The organization’s current motto is “Preventing the Next Big Tobacco.” 

SAM is a prominent opponent of legalization by individual states, as well as federal efforts to legalize and provide access. These efforts include federal rescheduling and the SAFER Banking Act–the latter of which seeks to allow legal cannabis dispensaries and businesses to access services like bank accounts–which most other businesses can access with no issues. 

SAM argues that marketing will target children, gangs, and cartels will gain access to financial services, and “big marijuana” will create addiction problems similar to those caused by alcohol and oxycontin abuse. However, SAM does find common ground with legalization advocates on decriminalization, suggesting that it offers a more measured approach for governments compared to full legalization.

Influence on States

The influence of anti-legalization lobbyists like SAM has manifested itself in states seeking to legalize and even those who have already voted to do so. This is evident by efforts like Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s reversal of the state legislature’s decision to pass Adult-Use legalization in 2021. Youngkin vetoed it based on “addiction prevention and public health safety.” However, polling shows that most Virginians have sided with legalization going back several years.

Polling also showed that Florida had a majority of voters approved of adult-use legislation in 2024 before the election took place in November of the same year. Trulieve–a Florida-based multistate operator–spent over $140 million on Amendment 3 to legalize cannabis for Adult Use, according to finance reports released. Their efforts were ultimately thwarted by only reaching 56% instead of the 60% of approval votes that the state-mandated was necessary to pass. 

Before the election, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took a heavy-handed approach by pumping large sums of money into anti-legalization efforts. He stoked worries of “the smell of marijuana in public everywhere” to engage voters’ fears like so many prohibitionists did decades before, however, he also took a more modern approach, as well, no doubt influenced by lobbies like SAM. De Santis was able to successfully portray Trulieve’s legalization efforts as a foreign company seeking to take advantage of Floridians by creating its own state-run monopoly on weed by keeping Florida-based companies away. These statements have been proven false since Trulieve originated in Florida and has its biggest retail medical facility footprint in the Sunshine State. 

The Future of Anti-Legalization Efforts

While the winds of change have ushered in a new era of cannabis accessibility and acceptance, they’re also gathering strong headwinds in the opposite direction. As we approach 2025, several factors are at play–primarily the federal government and the President, who will continue to create uncertainty on a wide variety of issues, not just cannabis.

Whichever direction the federal government chooses to proceed on policies like rescheduling cannabis and the SAFER Act could be a window into just how much the momentum will continue in favor of cannabis legalization and access for the next few years to come. 

States’ rights have continued to propel many individual commonwealths to put their own adult-use initiatives up for a vote, with more states like Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and Wisconsin possibly doing just that in 2025. Due to the recent efforts of anti-legalization groups, it remains to be seen if they will be successful or if there will be any compromise on either side.