For cannabis enthusiasts living in adult use states, long gone are the days of sneaking around with a dime bag in a coat pocket and worrying about whether the neighbors know you’ve got weed. But the sad truth is that, for millions of Americans living in prohibition or restrictive medical-only states, accessing safe and regulated cannabis is still a problem, writes Danielle Simone Brand. 

But does that mean that those living without access to the regulated market are abstaining from cannabis altogether? Apparently not. A Gallup poll from last year surveyed American adults in all 50 states and found that 13 percent “regularly” or “occasionally” smoke pot. That number is likely higher in reality, as cannabis consumers in prohibition states tend to feel less comfortable self-reporting their habits. 

So what’s a cannabis lover living in South Bend, Indiana or Twin Falls, Idaho to do? Although there are challenges involved in tracking the kind of behavior that people are reluctant to admit to pollsters and policymakers, we’ve gathered statistics, expert opinions, and anecdotes to paint a picture of the complicated realities of accessing cannabis from prohibition states.

Medical Refugees 

For those who aren’t casual consumers, but medical patients, or parents of a medical patient, there may be few options, aside from relocating to a legal state. It’s hard to track cannabis-motivated migrations, but there are plenty of anecdotes about people in desperate need who’ve moved from prohibition states — and even other countries — to places like Colorado in order to get safe access to cannabis. This issue is the subject of a 2014 documentary hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta and part 2 of a CNN series on cannabis, which helped to bring attention to the plight of medical refugees in need of cannabis, and to change people’s minds about the plant’s medicinal value.  

Recreational Relocators and Job Seekers

While “refugees” may not accurately describe this group, there are Americans who choose to move from a prohibition state to an adult use state because — at least in part — the cannabis policy is more lenient in their destination state. Some people just hate breaking the law, and others risk job loss or other serious consequences for buying and consuming cannabis. In an academic paper called “The Pot Rush: Is Legalized Marijuana a Positive Local Amenity?” researchers found that potential migrants to Colorado indeed saw legalized cannabis as a draw. 

“Legalization plays into people’s broader view of what a state is, or what it’s like, ”Mason Tvert, vice president of communications at VS Strategies and former director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, told Civilized. Those who value a progressive atmosphere may take cannabis’ legal status into consideration when deciding where to live. Others — particularly recent college grads seeking entry to the industry — relocate to legal states for job opportunities. 

Local Buyers

Some cannabis consumers are doing what they’ve always done: buying weed from their local guy (or girl), who sources from black market growers. Growers in the unregulated space, of course, come in all varieties. Some are steeped in the ethic of compassion, which motivates them to risk their freedom to provide medicine and enjoyment for others. These indie growers may abide by safe and principled growing practices; however, because they lack access to the legal testing regime, it’s impossible for an average buyer to know what’s really in the cannabis bought from an unregulated source. 

Other illicit market growers and manufacturers are not so ethical. Pesticides, fungi, molds, e. coli, and other contaminants are regularly found in cannabis products sourced from the illicit market. Case in point: The vaping illnesses making recent headlines are mostly traced back to black market vape cartridges contaminated with toxins. 

And while the illicit market still thrives in California — in no small part because of the lower cost of its products — consumers mostly have a choice. In prohibition states, on the other hand, options are far fewer, and users risk buying and consuming tainted products. Therein lies one of the most compelling arguments for legalizing cannabis: providing safe access. 

Unwitting Customers of International Drug Cartels

The local guy or girl selling in cities and towns all across the U.S. could be sourcing from international cartels — which are also implicated in violence, the weapons trade, and human trafficking. Historically, cartels have taken 20-30 percent of their profits from cannabis smuggling, but the abundant supply of domestic, legal weed available today has prompted them to shift from weed to cocaine, opioids, meth, and drugs of similar ilk. Still, cartels remain involved in smaller ways in the illicit cannabis market. 

Home Growers 

Some in prohibition states are turning to home growing, though the risks remain significant in certain jurisdictions. In Idaho, where no cannabis-friendly legislation has yet passed, possession of even hemp-derived CBD could cause a run-in with the law. Though the 2018 Farm Bill did effectively legalize hemp in all 50 states, specific rules and regulations have not been laid out yet — prompting certain states like Idaho to delay adherence to the law. 

You heard that right: In the golden age of cannabis, a person can still technically get arrested in Idaho for holding a CBD tincture even if it’s for an arthritic grandma or a sick child. Growing a THC-rich strain could cost you 5 years in jail and a $50,000 fine. 

Canna-Tourists

Another option for those living in prohibition states is to partake in the weed tourism industry. Businesses have sprung up in legal states that cater to cannabis consumers or the canna-curious seeking a taste of the legal market. As the most established of the 11 adult use states, Colorado leads the way in this venture. 

“Tougher laws tend to translate to more visitors," Mike Eymer, founder of Colorado Cannabis Tours, told Civilized. "Texas, the southeast, and northeast of the country are large portions of our base.” But vacations, as we all know, don’t last. For regular access, canna-tourism won’t meet the need.

Buying Through the Pipeline

Predictably, entrepreneurs are finding ways to turn on the flow of cannabis from adult use states to prohibition states. It’s illegal, but good business. It’s also the most solid choice for some consumers who want regulated product but don’t happen to live in the right state. 

Daniel, a business owner in Indiana who prefers to use his first name only because he lives in a small town, told Civilized that he buys cannabis from a seller, who in turn purchases from Colorado dispensaries. That seller either drives the 16 hours to his home state with a car stocked full of cannabis, or he ships it back via USPS. 

There’s risk involved for both buyer and seller in this scenario, but Daniel is quick to point out law enforcement’s changing attitudes, driven by the exponential growth of Indiana’s CBD market and by the evolving national discourse around cannabis. Even those who may not have ever understood the benefits of the plant before now see that there are many ways to consume responsibly, and police are therefore becoming more lenient. “People are a lot less afraid now because the consequences for buying or possessing are probably gonna be a slap on the wrist—at most,” he said.

However, Daniel is white. Throughout the country, black people often face much harsher penalties for cannabis infractions than their white counterparts do — even though national stats show that black and white Americans use cannabis in about equal percentages. 

Excursions to Other States 

Jamie, a high school teacher in Boise, Idaho, whose real name is withheld because of her job, says that she enjoys cannabis recreationally while hiking, biking, or doing yoga. “And in the evening,” she told Civilized, “it helps me get a good night’s sleep.” However, Jamie doesn’t feel comfortable seeking out an illicit market source. “I’ve never been good at asking around locally. It’s not my personality,” she said. 

So, when the Oregon border town of Ontario opened its first legal dispensary in July, Jamie has regularly made the 100-mile round trip journey to buy flower and edibles. Even though it’s still illegal to bring the product back to her home state, she’s not alone. Idaho plates often fill the lot at the border town dispensary and business is good. 

Across-state-lines cannabis commerce may be fairly common today, but Jamie is well aware of the risk. “I think twice about it,” she said. “If I were to get in trouble for this, I could lose my job.”

The Domino Effect

Jared Moffat, a campaign coordinator for the Marijuana Policy Project told Civilized that the organization was keen to be part of Michigan’s 2018 legalization campaign “because we understood that getting a foothold in the Midwest would break the perception that legalization was something limited to the West and the Northeast.” And that seems to have borne fruit; less than a year later, Illinois became the second Midwestern state to legalize adult use. 

When one state legalizes, there’s an overall bump in media coverage. There are states where a certain newspaper may cover areas in other states, and so you see the dialogue of one state seep into the other,” MasonTvert told Civilized. He added that the national dialogue is heard everywhere and thereby contributes to changes in attitude and — potentially — in policy.

There’s even some indication of competition between states, said Tvert. Certain state governments are starting to pay attention to the legalization status of neighboring states and looking to craft similar policies. In New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island, for instance, he observed "a lot of discussion about states in the region moving forward and needing to keep up and be competitive.”

Rhode Island’s state government is being spurred to action by the fact that neighboring Massachusetts has passed an adult use law. Legislators there worry that Rhode Island will be left out as a center of innovation — not to mention tax revenue. “If you want your state to be a leader in business, or to be the place where companies choose to locate, you need to be moving on this,” said Tvert. 

He pointed out the fact that Colorado’s former governor, John Hickenlooper, did not seem to appreciate what the cannabis industry could bring the state. According to Tvert, Colorado’s current governor, Jared Polis, has made it a point to keep Colorado a place where cannabis startups wants to locate, or where a large multi-state operator will be based. “Governors want to attract business,” he said. “They want the 500-person factory or the 5,000-person headquarters in their state. And that’s no different with cannabis — or at least it shouldn’t be.” 

Prohibition is a Failed Policy

Even though some form of prohibition persists in most of the U.S., Americans are still consuming cannabis. We’re smoking, vaping, eating, dabbing, and otherwise consuming it because it feels good or helps with intractable health issues; in any case, it’s far safer than alcohol and opioids. 

Jared Moffat of MPP says that over the last few years “public opinion has definitively shifted in our favor.” The organization’s strategy is to pass as many reforms on a state-by-state level as possible in hopes that this will put pressure on Congress to act. “This year we’re seeing more support, and more votes for marijuana policy reform bills than ever,” he said. Even among Republican and conservative voters, Moffat added, support for medical marijuana polls very high. 

Daniel, the business owner and cannabis consumer in Indiana, believes that the need for legalization is becoming more and more urgent in states with larger rural populations. “There are people who’ve done manual labor all their lives — who are in pain — and depend on opioids. But because of the crackdown, they can’t get them anymore. And cannabis,” he said, “could really help.” 

Most regions around the world allow young adults at the age of 18 to enjoy or purchase their own alcohol and tobacco.

However, the US looks to continue limiting illicit cannabis trade as the government has strictly enforced that adults must be 21-years-old or older in order to purchase alcohol. Meanwhile, some parts of the US have also implemented a mandated age of 21 years or older to purchase tobacco.

The US government strongly believed that if the minimum age requirement was raised to 21 it would reduce the number of young adults drinking and smoking. However, Mike Males, a Senior Researcher for San Francisco’s Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, highlighted that changing the age limit has little to no effect in the reduction of underage users – they would likely continue acquiring products through the illicit cannabis trade.

Young people

Teenagers are more likely to obtain their supply from an illegal source and consequently, teenagers are more likely to drink or smoke in excess. Similarly, as the legal cannabis market begins to take off, lawmakers are approaching the industry with caution.

In American states where cannabis is legal for adult-use, only adults 21 years old and over are allowed to purchase any cannabis-based products. On the other hand, Canada allows consumers 18-years-old and older (19 years old in some provinces) to purchase cannabis-based products.

The age difference between the two countries allows Canada to minimise the illicit trade market. Similarly, the United States setting the legal age at 18 years old would add a whole new demographic of young adults to the market, expanding the market penetration even further.

Expunging criminal records

Along with Canada, several other nations have based their cannabis legalisation efforts on a foundation of expunging past criminal records. Notably, Mexico is moving towards legalising cannabis as well, with a primary goal of ending the illicit cannabis trade, or the ‘war on drugs’, and lowering criminal conviction rates.

In particular, Mexico is a region that has been ravaged by the war on drugs, resulting in thousands upon thousands of deaths. Recently, Mexican Senator Julio Menchaca Salazar introduced a piece of legislation that would allow for legal possession, cultivation, and consumption of cannabis for personal use by adults.

Similarly, Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York, is also pushing for legalisation to end the racial and ethnic disparities in the African American and Latino communities, in terms of cannabis related arrests.

However, despite Cuomo’s active stance, his efforts have so far been unsuccessful in the state of New York. The Governor did manage to decriminalise cannabis recently, making cannabis possession and use a violation, instead of a crime. Furthermore, the state of New York is also creating a process for individuals convicted of marijuana possession to have their records expunged.

New York Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, said: “Marijuana possession gives those convicted a criminal record that will follow them throughout their lives, potentially limiting their access to education, affecting their ability to obtain employment leading to a potential inability to provide for their families.

“The creation of a mechanism for expungement, both retroactively and forward-looking, is a step in the right direction in finally ending the heavy-handed war on drugs.

Global Payout, Inc. announced earlier this week that it has, “entered into a financing arrangement with a long-term private investor for ongoing financial support at a valuation of ten times the current share price. This investment group has already provided over $2,200,000 (~€25.03m)in investment capital to the company over the past two years and has committed to additional financing of more than $3,000,000 at a 10x valuation for a total investment of over $5,000,000.

“The Company anticipates using a large portion of these proceeds to retire a substantial percentage of the Company’s outstanding convertible debt, which will have tremendous value to the stock and its shareholders.

“It gives me great pleasure to announce financing at such a high valuation,” said Global Payout, CEO Vanessa Luna. “As I have said many times, I believe strongly that this company is on a path to becoming the go-to Fintech solution for the cannabis market, but it feels great to have that affirmed by such a strong investment.

“It reaffirms to me, as CEO, that the growth initiatives and overall trajectory of the business are moving in the right direction; and should signal to shareholders that we mean serious business.

“We are aware that there is still a long way to go to get this company in a truly competitive position, which will involve a hard look at all aspects of both the public and privately held Company, MTrac Tech Corp., but this arrangement certainly offers us the ability to continue to make progress on all fronts as we strive to optimise shareholder value for the long term.”

Alcohol and pregnancy definitely don’t mix, but is it cool for expecting mothers to toke? Researchers at the University of Denver are trying to bring clarity to that question.

Pilyoung Kim, a psychology professor at the school, is leading a team that is studying the effects of cannabis on pregnant mothers and their babies. 

Kim said she was inspired to get to the bottom of the matter when she was working on a separate research project on poverty and pregnancy. While working on that study, Kim was confronted with a recurring question: “It’s OK to use cannabis while you’re pregnant, right?”

“We were baffled about what to say to these women,” Kim said in a press release. “There is a limited understanding of the effect of cannabis use on themselves and their babies if they are exposed to cannabis inside the womb.”

The research could potentially rupture another taboo over marijuana, which has been normalized (and legalized) throughout much of the United States. More than 30 states have legalized medical cannabis, and a growing number of cities and states are doing the same for recreational use. And marijuana has been marketed to pregnant women to help relieve morning sickness. A study last year on recommendations given to pregnant women at dispensaries in Colorado, one of the first states to legalize recreational pot, found that 69 percent offered the products as a remedy for morning sickness, and that 36 percent said marijuana is safe to use during pregnancy. 

Conversely, Kim’s research could lend support to the longstanding wisdom that expecting mothers should avoid marijuana. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that doctors should encourage pregnant women to discontinue marijuana use. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says plainly: “No amount of marijuana has been proven safe to use during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.” 

The Methods of the Study

Whatever the ultimate findings, Kim and her team are conducting the study by observing two groups of pregnant women: one that uses cannabis and one that doesn’t. From there, they’ll collect data during the pregnancy; after the baby is born, both the mother and child will undergo  an MRI to determine any impacts related to brain structure and function development.

“We feel there’s a little bit of a mission with this study, more so than some other research projects,” Kim said. “This is going to be really beneficial for moms in this situation. They are motivated to do their best for their baby, and they have a right to access all the right kind of information.”

Kim is one year into the study, which is being funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“We are trying to do this research with an open mind, so the participants know that we would like to find scientific information that could be helpful to them one way or the other,” Kim said. “There’s a really important role science can play here. It’s to really inform the public so they are empowered to make a decision for themselves.”

Shortly after Governor Tom Wolf announced his support for legalizing recreational marijuana in the state, Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced a bill that is being hailed by cannabis advocates as the “gold standard” for weed legalization.

Democratic Senators Daylin Leach and Sharif Street filed the legislation that covers everything from social equity provisions to marijuana delivery services.

“Pennsylvania’s cannabis policy is cruel, irrational and expensive. Prohibition has destroyed countless lives and has cost taxpayers millions,” Leach said in a statement.

The senator argues prohibition also helps fund violent drug cartels and vowed to fight this “tough battle” until the end.

“The stakes are too high for us to fail,” he stressed.

Under the legislation, which “will end the ongoing destruction caused by cannabis prohibition and will establish a fair protocol for the use, sale and regulation of cannabis,” adults aged 21 and over will be allowed to possess and buy pot, but also cultivate up to 10 cannabis plants – more than in any other state that has fully legalized weed.

Additionally, the bill includes the automatic expungement of previous criminal convictions, which recently took effect in New York as well.

Advocates shouldn’t rush to celebrate, though

Perhaps most notably, the senators proposed that taxes collected from cannabis sales be directed toward school districts, which could amount to $500 million in the first fiscal year of legalization.

School districts would be allowed to allocate the funds according to their needs.

“An end to the prohibition of cannabis is overdue. The economic imperatives are too great. We also have a moral mandate to correct the damage that disparate enforcement of our Marijuana Laws has done and is still doing to communities across the commonwealth,” Senator Street adds.

The nonprofit organization Keystone Cannabis Coalition that advocates for full legalization of recreational weed in Pennsylvania called the bill “fantastic.”

“It prioritizes the cannabis consumer and corrects some serious social justice problems. If it passes, it could become the gold standard legalization bill for the free world,” Director Les Stark told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

However, Republicans, who currently control both chambers of the Pennsylvania state legislature, have recently expressed they have no interest in legalizing recreational marijuana, meaning the future of the bill hangs in the balance.

At the moment, support from across the aisle has been lacking.

Following Governor Wolf’s call to lawmakers to draft cannabis legislation, House Republicans stated they were “disappointed” and “frustrated” over his support for recreational marijuana.

GOP House leaders noted that cannabis is still classified as a Schedule I drug by the federal government and underscored that the state is already experiencing an opioid epidemic they believe would be exacerbated by access to legal weed.