美国中期选举传出佳音，大麻行业看到了这些利好

上周二美国国会的中期选举让大麻行业发现了未来发展的机会。

当天，密歇根州的一号提案投票通过，该州成为美国中西部地区第一个宣布娱乐用大麻合法的州。虽然在北达科他州娱乐用大麻合法化修正案未获通过，但犹他州和密苏里州的选民均投票通过医用大麻合法。

上周三上午，投行Canacord Genuity的大麻行业分析师鲍勃·伯莱森在报告中写道：“我们认为密歇根特别重要，因为该州人口众多，拥有庞大的医用（大麻）市场。我们预计，2018年密歇根的大麻市场规模将达到8.56亿美元，到2022年增至约13亿美元。”

密歇根州底特律市发行量最大的日报《底特律新闻》报道称，娱乐用大麻合法销售可能要到2020年以后才能实施。

伯莱森指出，随着中西部市场发展，美国大麻生产与零售巨头MedMen收购国内医用大麻零售商PharmaCann交易的影响力将在密歇根初步显现。

各州大麻法律正逐个调整，主要通过投票表决修改法规。而专家指出，由于美国全国对大麻的支持日盛，联邦政府的相关立法可能更迅速地出台。

目前，美国已有10个州立法承认娱乐用大麻市场合法，33个州明确医用大麻合法。

“国会也越发支持各州自行制定大麻政策。”美国大麻行业协会的媒体关系主管摩根·福克斯向科技媒体《连线》表示，“全国三分之二民众希望大麻合法，政客如果视而不见，就是在拿自己的政治生命冒险。”

医用大麻合法化举措在保守的犹他州获得通过，显示出舆论风向的变化。民调机构盖洛普的调查显示，2017年以来，大多数共和党人已支持大麻合法化。

除了投票支持大麻合法化，上周二的中期选举期间，还有一批支持大麻的政客当选。

在得克萨斯州的一场关键竞选中，曾在众议院规则委员会投票反对大麻修正案的共和党议员皮特·塞申斯未能连任，失去了在该委员会的席位。获胜的民主党人科林·阿尔瑞德此前呼吁，保证患创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的退伍军人获得医用大麻。

在伊利诺伊州，已任一届州长的共和党人布鲁斯·劳纳不敌民主党人JB普利兹克。普利兹克负责的支持大麻合法化平台颇有声势。

在威斯康星州的州长宝座争夺战中，民主党人托尼·埃弗斯战胜了共和党人斯科特·沃克尔。埃弗斯的宣传平台明确主张医用大麻合法化。在咨询性质的投票公决中，该州16个县里有14个县的选民支持该类大麻合法。

在一些在成立合法大麻市场的州，投票对刑事司法系统可能也会产生重大影响。

上周三发表讲话时，当选密歇根州长的格瑞琴·惠特默表示，由于现在该州娱乐用大麻已经合法，会考虑撤销违反大麻相关法律罪犯的犯罪记录。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

The marijuana industry saw momentum in last Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Proposal 1 passed in Michigan, making it the first recreational marijuana market in the Midwest. While an amendment to legalize recreational cannabis in North Dakota failed, voters in Utah and Missouri passed measures to make marijuana available for medical use.

“We view Michigan as a particularly important market given the state’s substantial population and large medical-use market,” CanacordGenuity cannabis analyst Bob Burleson wrote in a note last Wednesday morning. “We estimate Michigan’s market for marijuana to be valued at $856 million in 2018, growing to approximately $1.3 billion in 2022.”

Recreational sales may not begin in the state until 2020, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Burleson pointed out that MedMen’s acquisition of PharmaCann will give it early exposure in Michigan, as the Midwest market develops.

While cannabis laws continue to change state by state, primarily through ballot measures, experts note that increasing support across the country could push federal legalization to happen more quickly.

There are now 10 states with legal recreational marijuana markets and 33 where medical cannabis is legalized.

“Momentum is gaining for change in Congress to allow states to determine their own marijuana policies.” Morgan Fox, media relations director at the National Cannabis Industry Association, told Wired. “Two-thirds of the country wants marijuana to be legal, and politicians are ignoring that at their peril.”

Passing the medical marijuana measure in conservative Utah shows the way public opinion has changed, with a majority of Republicans supporting cannabis legalization since 2017, according to Gallup polls.

Along with the votes for legalization, a slate of pro-cannabis politicians was elected in last Tuesday’s midterms.

In a key race in Texas, Republican Representative Pete Sessions lost his seat on the House Rules Committee, where he has been blocking votes on cannabis amendments. The Democrat who defeated him, Collin Allred, has called him out for keeping veterans with PTSD from accessing medical marijuana.

In Illinois, Democrat JB Pritzker successfully ran on a pro-legalization platform to unseat first-term Republican Governor Bruce Rauner.

Democrat Tony Evers defeated Republican incumbent Scott Walker in the governor’s race in Wisconsin. His platform includes legalizing medical marijuana, which voters in 14 of 16 counties across the state signaled support for in advisory referendums on the ballot.

These votes could also have a substantial impact on criminal justice in the states creating legal marijuana markets.

Michigan’s Governor-elect Gretchen Whitmer said in remarks last Wednesday that she would consider expunging records for those convicted of criminal activities that are now legal in the state.