Big GOP players battle for and against cannabis in 2022

The 2022 midterm election is in full swing, and there’s nothing that causes friction and argument over issues like an election season. This year, the pile of political issues seems to be growing by the day, with each new issue bringing conservatives and liberals more and more at odds.

There are even a few issues that are causing a fork in the road for the Conservatives this election season. As key GOP players emerge in 2022, politicians both veteran and new take wildly different stances on cannabis legalization. These different attitudes also appear to represent two different future perspectives for the GOP. The midterm election could help shed light on what kind of Republican voters are looking for progress, as well as how the conservative base really feels about cannabis legalization.

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One of the most notable GOP candidates when it comes to the future of cannabis and the GOP is Rep. Nancy Mace. Mace has made headlines for many reasons, but primarily because he is a conservative who supports legislation to legalize cannabis. That State Reform Act is a bill that would decriminalize cannabis.

Mace will face Katie Arrington in Tuesday’s primary. Cannabis politics isn’t the only thing these two argue about. Arrington is backed by former President Trump, while Mace “blames Trump for the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot,” according to the statement Politically. In fact, Trump has gone so far as to call Mace “evil, disloyal, and bad for the Republican Party,” according to the article.

While Arrington has Trump’s backing, Mace and her cannabis bill have their own backing. “Mace already has one of the most powerful conservative groups in the world in her corner: Charles Koch’s Americans for Prosperity,” it said forbes. Mase also has the support of Nikki Baley, a potential presidential candidate and Trump opponent. The fight between Mace and Arrington is just one of many races where GOP candidates have two very different visions of the future, each with powerful conservative forces behind them.

While South Carolina is a classic example of the GOP waging an internal struggle, there are other conservative states where cannabis is surfacing in politics. South Dakota, for example, could have its own cannabis reckoning day in November.

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South Dakota voters approved a ballot measure to legalize cannabis in 2020, but current Gov. Kristi Noem (who is up for re-election) shut it down shortly thereafter. While Noem supported the legalization of medicinal cannabis, this year she vetoed more legislation that would remove marijuana-related offenses from a person’s background check. “Even with the legalization of medical cannabis, consequences for the use of illegal drugs must remain in place at a time when the use and possession of marijuana, even for ostensibly medicinal purposes, was illegal,” she said official statement. Noem is also rumored to have her own presidential aspirations for 2024.

Noem faces not only re-election in November, but another electoral initiative. That’s right, there’s a new (and improved) law legalizing cannabis on this year’s ballot. This means that in November South Dakota voters will finally have their say on cannabis and how its legislation is being administered in their state.

Cannabis is just one issue in a year that has major American rights on the table. As certain GOP candidates draw lines in the sand and align on either side of this issue, it will be interesting to see how each state votes. Given the current state of uncertainty in the country and the GOP, November’s election may provide some answers as to where cannabis legalization is headed in this country.