Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton calls for marijuana in US Botanic Garden
Jenny Goldsberry
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Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) wrote a letter Thursday requesting that marijuana be represented in the U.S. Botanic Garden.
The garden, located in Norton’s district of Washington, D.C., where marijuana has been legal for both medical and recreational use since 2014, is an amalgamation of plants from all over the world. Visitors can see it on outdoor and indoor displays, including a crop of hemp, which Norton lobbied for previously. Norton is a nonvoting member of the House of Representatives.
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“As individual states and the country as a whole are moving toward the legalization of marijuana, having a display with male and female marijuana plants would be a historic opportunity to highlight the impact of marijuana on American society and, especially, the American economy,” Norton wrote.
Currently, 21 states and other jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., and Guam, have fully legalized marijuana for recreational and medical use. Sixteen states permit medical usage only, and three states (Idaho, Nebraska, and Kansas) do not allow any public usage.
“According to recent statistics, states that legalized marijuana sales collected an estimated 20% more in taxes on retail marijuana sales than on the sale of alcohol products in 2021,” Norton wrote in her letter. “Cannabis sales are projected to reach approximately $33.6 billion by the end of this year and as much as $53.5 billion by 2027.”
Nevertheless, the public at large has mixed opinions of the psychoactive drug. While 45% of those surveyed said the drug has a negative effect on most users, 50% said they believe the drug is detrimental to society as a whole. More than half, 53%, said marijuana has a positive effect on most users, according to a new poll from Gallup published in 2022.
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The number of young adults who reported marijuana use reached 43% in 2021, which rose from the 34% reported in 2016, according to a Monitoring the Future panel study also published last year. This prompted the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Nora Volkow, to issue a warning that there was an “urgent need” for research into the long-term effects and benefits of marijuana use, such as its effect on brain development.
President Joe Biden recently issued a pardon for all prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana, which included 6,500 people who were convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law between 1992 and 2021.