The Biggest Cannabis Victories of the Year

2018 Recap – Significant Cannabis Victories!

We’re coming to an end of 2018 and with it we take a step back and look at some of the significant cannabis victories all over the world. The year started off with a wobble with threats from then Attorney General Jeff Sessions, however as the year progressed it seemed that all across the board people favored cannabis.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the more significant victories for Cannabis in 2018.

Lawmakers take Legalization into their hands

This year set a precedent for many other areas. Before, cannabis was passed through voter ballots. In other words, a ballot would be set…the people would vote and the legislation was made law as a result.

This year however, Vermont enacted cannabis legalization not through a referendum but lawmakers simply went ahead and made a legalization bill. It was solidified when Gov. Phil Scott signed it into law. More significant was that Gov. Scott is a Republican.

Another area where a similar process followed suit was in the Commonwealth of the North Mariana Islands. Just like in Vermont, lawmakers proposed the bill and once more it was enacted through the signature from Gov. Ralph Torres (another Republican). The difference between the two bills was that the Commonwealth included provisions for cannabis commerce.

What this shows us that cannabis is no longer political taboo, and it is possible to legalize cannabis without ballot initiatives.

Hemp Became Legal

A major win for the cannabis industry is the legalization of hemp. Introduced into a farm bill, hemp is now a legal cash crop in the United States. Hemp and all derivatives will be completely legal in 2019. Seeing that hemp is non-psychoactive…it’s a wonder it stayed in a pseudo-illegal status for so long.

Canada Legalized Weed!

Canada was the first “developed nation” to embrace legal cannabis for adults. It set a precedent for other developed nations to follow suit. With a national scheme allowing adults access to recreational cannabis, you can now purchase marijuana in a wide variety of forms.

Mexico Legalizes Cannabis

While Mexico doesn’t officially have cannabis legal on the books, they have less than 2 months to figure it all out. With their fifth Supreme Court ruling in favor of cannabis, the Mexican constitution makes it legal for adults to consume, carry and cultivate cannabis. The new administration under Andres Lopez Obrador is also already working on the commercial aspects of cannabis. We can expect by 2019 to have sort of cannabis model in place within the country. Spring Break in Cancun just got a lot hazier.

The Big Shift in Politics

Many political opponents of marijuana in the US switched sides. From Sen. Diana Feinstein and Sen. Kamala Harris joined the pro-cannabis side finally bending to the will of the people. Let’s not forget about Chuck Schumer and Rep. Joe Kennedy who also switched sides. In fact, Schumer introduced his own bill to end Federal Prohibition on cannabis altogether.

What does this mean? It means that the political landscape of cannabis is now a talking point. It means that if a politician is in favor of legalization, they’ll get votes. We can expect many more to jump isle this coming year and with such an advance, we could also potentially see the end of cannabis prohibition at a federal level altogether.

This is especially possible since Mexico and Canada will both have legal cannabis on the books, meaning that the U.S would no longer be able to maintain their prohibitionist stance on the substance.

Cannabis Stocks went through the roof!

Right before Canada legalized, we saw an upsurge in many different cannabis stocks. Some of them climbed more than 500%. It was comparable to the cryptocurrency Bitcoin’s surge in 2017. The stocks did drop off post legalization, however those publically tradeable companies are poised to show even greater growth in 2019 when the kinks of legalization settles.

FDA Approves Cannabis-Based Medicine

For the first time the FDA approved a CBD infused medication for rare forms of childhood epilepsy. This federal agency essentially broke the Controlled Substance Act’s hold on cannabis regarding the “no medical value clause”.

It suddenly became a blatant contradiction for the DOJ to maintain their stance that cannabis holds no medical value. In fact, as a result, the federal government called for more research into minor cannabinoids and terpenes, meaning that we could soon start seeing more cannabis based medicines coming to light.

Bottomline

This year, while it started rough…ended on a high note. We’re seeing massive changes occurring all over the world, with places like England on the verge of adopting a medical cannabis scheme as well as Australia. Even South Africa permitted home cultivation within its borders.

It’s truly a time of great change and we can only hope that 2019 will be a monster year for cannabis once more!