As with any American election, there were many ballot initiatives (referendums) across the United States. In every battle, across blue states and red states, the war against the war on drugs won..Arizona Proposition 207 legalized marijuana use for adults over the age of 21 and allowed adults to grow up to six marijuana plants for their own use. It passed with 59.8 per cent of the vote..Montana’s I-190 legalized marijuana use for adults over the age of 21 and allowed adults to grow up to four marijuana plants – and four seedlings – for their own use. It passed with 56.8 per cent of the vote..New Jersey Public Question 1 amended the state constitution, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21. It also imposed the state’s sales tax on recreational marijuana products. It passed with 67 per cent of the vote..Mississippi Ballot Measure 1 amended the state constitution to establish a medical marijuana program for individuals with a debilitating medical condition. The amendment passed with 67.9 per cent of the vote. The follow-up ballot question saw Initiative 65 win in a landslide with 74 per cent support allowing medical marijuana for a wide range of qualifying conditions, beating 65A which would have restricted medical marijuana to the terminally ill..South Dakota became the first state in history to go directly from full marijuana prohibition to full decriminalization. Initiated Measure 26 – passed with 69.9 per cent of the vote – established a medical marijuana program while Constitutional Amendment A – passed with 54.1 per cent – amended the state constitution legalizing recreational use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21. .South Dakota is a solidly red state that voted nearly 62 per cent for Donald Trump, meaning that many of the reddest Republican voters now support some form of drug legalization..Oregon Measure 109 authorized the state Health Authority to create a medical psilocybin-producing mushroom (aka magic mushroom) program. It passed with 55.7 per cent of the vote. Measure 110 – the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative (2020) – is a ceasefire in the war on drugs. Passing with 58.6 per cent of the vote, Oregon has decriminalized personal/non-commercial drug possession. Those caught in possession of heroin, cocaine, or other hard drugs will now face a $100 fine or be offered a health assessment conducted by a certified drug counselor at an addiction recovery centre..Oregon has adopted the Portuguese model of drug decriminalization, choosing to focus on treating addiction instead of punishing drug addicts. .The Government of Alberta has done some good work on expanding access to addiction recovery centres, but more work still needs to be done. Many addicts must hit rock bottom before they ask for help. But as drug dealers replace the opioids their customers want with mislabelled fentanyl; rock bottom often means an accidental overdose and death..To save someone from an accidental overdose requires access to naloxone. While the Alberta Government has made take-home naloxone injection kits widely available, these kits are only a partial solution. As the kits include needles, they are difficult for people to use correctly and contribute to discarded needles found in parks and on the sidewalks near safe injection sites. .Luckily, there is a better way. Naloxone nasal spray is far easier to use, will reduce the number of discarded needles found in public, and has been proven to save more lives. Narcan’s naloxone nasal spray is covered in Ontario, Quebec, the Northwest Territories, and for Veterans Affairs Canada members. It should also be covered in Alberta..The tide is turning, and it looks like the war on drugs – much like alcohol prohibition before it – will one day end in North America. .Alex McColl is the National Defence Columnist with the Western Standard and a Canadian military analyst
