This November, Vote for Public Health | Opinion

As excitement builds for the candidates running for office this November, voters should pay equally close attention to the ballot measures, which often have the ability to circumvent the legislature and rewrite state-level drug laws. Candidates, as well as ballot measures, have the potential to affect the nation’s posture toward drugs, which is why voters must favor options that promote public health and public safety.

The most notable of these ballot measures is Florida’s Amendment 3, which would enshrine recreational marijuana in the Florida constitution. The group campaigning for legalization has raised more than $100 million, making this the most expensive ballot measure in American history. More than $90 million has come from Trulieve, a medical marijuana company that hopes to consolidate the state’s industry. Amendment 3 has no health and safety protections and instead punts all regulatory action to the legislature.

Perhaps most concerning, Florida’s Amendment 3 grants legal immunity to corporations involved in the marijuana industry. This provision protects them from many forms of legal accountability, stripping individual rights to sue and setting a dangerous precedent that could have wide-reaching implications on consumer safety and market fairness. If passed, this immunity would shield corporations from negligence, product liability, and other legal challenges that are essential for protecting consumers and ensuring corporate responsibility.

South Dakota will vote on Measure 29, the third attempt at legalizing recreational marijuana in the state through a ballot measure. In 2022, voters rejected a similar measure, 47 to 53. More than half of the legalization campaign’s cash contributions, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, came from the marijuana industry. Jim Kinyon, who leads the group that opposes legalization, has asked, “how many times does the state of South Dakota need to reject recreational marijuana before the industry will accept the decision of the state’s citizens?”

North Dakota will vote on Measure 5, after having defeated similar ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana in 2022 (45 percent yes; 55 percent no) and 2018 (41 percent yes; 59 percent no). The ballot measure is opposed by a wide-ranging coalition, including the North Dakota Medical Association, the North Dakota Sheriffs Association, the North Dakota Catholic Conference, and the North Dakota Farmers Union, among others. The marijuana industry has also contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the legalization effort in the Peace Garden State.

Nebraska will vote on Initiative 437, which would legalize so-called “medical marijuana.” While there may be medical components of marijuana, smoked marijuana is not medicine—and regardless, the question of whether it is should not be determined by popular vote. Despite the provisions of the proposed Nebraska law, the FDA has not approved marijuana for the treatment of any disease or condition.

Voters in Massachusetts will be asked about Question 4, which would legalize five psychedelic drugs: psilocybin, psilocyn, mescaline, ibogaine, and DMT. The ballot measure has been opposed by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, as well as pro-psychedelic grassroots activists who fear it will result in the corporatization of the industry. Much like marijuana, none of these psychedelic drugs have been approved by the FDA to treat any conditions and industry influence has amplified the negative consequences of more drugs in various communities.

Given that these efforts are often funded by profit-seeking industries and radical activists, few should be surprised when they fail to deliver on their promises. A case in point is Measure 110 in Oregon, which in 2020 decriminalized the possession of all drugs, including fentanyl, meth, and cocaine. However, after immense public blowback and an unprecedented rise in overdose deaths, the Democratic-led legislature and governor repealed the law. In state after state that legalizes marijuana, we see spikes in health-related harms, including traffic fatalities, cannabis use disorder, and emergency department visits.

Amid the corporate pressure campaigns to legalize marijuana, as well as concerns over her polling numbers among minority voters, Vice President Kamala Harris came out in support of the legalization of marijuana. She claims that this plan will promote racial equity, yet we have seen the opposite play out. In 2023, 8.7 percent of Black Americans aged 12 or older had cannabis use disorder (addiction to marijuana), compared with 6.7 percent of white people. What’s more, despite her claim that Black people will acquire ownership in the industry, Fortune reported that Black people accounted for less than 2 percent of the nation’s marijuana business owners.

At the same time, Donald Trump announced his support for the legalization of marijuana in Florida, claiming “I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use.” However, this is a false dichotomy. We can address concerns about criminal justice reform without creating a for-profit marijuana industry. We should learn from the mistakes that we made with alcohol and tobacco.

Amid an unprecedented drug crisis, we do not need more policies or more politicians who support increasing access to mind-altering drugs.

Dr. Kevin Sabet is the President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former White House drug policy advisor to Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.