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Boston, MA (PRWEB) February 25, 2016

While it's still controversial, medical marijuana is edging toward normality. Forty states (and the District of Columbia) now have some form of law on the books that allow the drug to be used for a variety of ailments, and sales are soaring— reaching $5.4 billion in 2015.

That doesn't mean it's widely available in all of those states, of course. Some, like Alabama and South Carolina, have extremely strict circumstances under which cannabidiol products can be prescribed, and still forbid the production and distribution of the drug. And even in states where it's easier to come by, there are differences in how it's handled.

Voters in 20 U.S. states could potentially legalize some form of cannabis use in the November 2016 election — part of a historic backlash to the century-old war on marijuana.

According to Ballotpedia, the encyclopedia of American politics, activists have submitted ballot measures for public vote in: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

IT’S BEEN nearly two years since the state declared prescription drug and heroin addiction a public health emergency. Since then, we’ve had an all-hands-on-deck approach from lawmakers, police and fire chiefs, health professionals, and community groups.

But our collective efforts haven’t been enough. Until we change the culture around how opioids are prescribed, and dramatically reduce the number of pills available, people will continue to die.

Since 1999, the number of prescription painkillers sold in the United States has nearly quadrupled. In 2014, there were 4.6 million opioid prescriptions written in Massachusetts alone — enough for nearly every adult in this state to have a bottle of pills. Meanwhile, overdose deaths have risen by more than 300 percent.

Patients voiced hope and frustration as a medical marijuana dispensary prepared to formally open Tuesday in Lowell, marking the debut of the sixth dispensary in Massachusetts.

It has been more than three years since voters approved marijuana for medical use.

Executives of Patriot Care, operator of the Lowell facility, described the licensing process as a positive but long road, and said they opted for a cautious launch, offering just four strains of marijuana in the beginning but no other products, such as edibles, tinctures, or oils. They said they want to make sure they have ample supply. The first dispensaries that opened last year quickly ran into supply problems.

No state east of the Mississippi has legalized marijuana, but the land of Yankees has several states that could free the weed this year.

No state east of the Mississippi has legalized marijuana, but that's very likely to change this year, and New England will be leading the way. Two of the six New England states will likely let the voters make the call in November, while the others all have legalization bills pending.

So far, with the exception of Washington, DC, where voters elected to legalize the possession and cultivation, but not the sale of marijuana in 2014, all of the legalization action has been in the West. The four states that have legalized it so far—Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington—are all Western states.

Although Massachusetts voters will decide the outcome of the referendum questions on next fall's ballot, at least two of the ballot question campaigns will be shaped in large part by forces outside the state.

A review of campaign finance reports found that organizations outside Massachusetts are the major backers of questions to legalize recreational marijuana and ban the sale of meat and eggs from confined animals.

The outside money means that those committees will be able to fund strong campaigns, with advertising and grassroots organizing. But it also opens the organizers up to criticism for not representing the interests of Massachusetts.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to explore the use of medical marijuana as an alternative to the powerful opioid painkillers that kill thousands of people each year.

In a letter to CDC chief Tom Friedan, the Massachusetts Democrat also asks the agency to look into “the impact of the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana on opioid overdose deaths.”

From a public health standpoint, Warren is right. There is a lot of potential here. Here’s a rundown of what the research has shown so far:

Chuck Grant displayed his medical marijuana that he picked up from Massachusetts first medical marijuana dispensary in Salem last June.

State health authorities Friday more than doubled the amount of medical marijuana that patients can buy, a move made after regulators determined laboratories can ensure the safety of the drug.

The state Department of Public Health had imposed a stricter limit since the first medical marijuana dispensary opened in June.

Under the rules put in place Friday, patients will be allowed to buy up to 10 ounces of marijuana every two months.

Colorado cop Jim Gerhardt, whose state legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2012, has a message for Massachusetts voters and lawmakers weighing whether the Bay State should do the same.

"My message is: Slow down. Study what's going on," he said after speaking with state legislators at the State House.

Gerhardt, an officer in Thornton, Colo., and vice president of the Colorado Drug Investigators Association, said marijuana is the "most highly regulated industry in the entire state" of Colorado.

In Massachusetts, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol hopes to place a measure legalizing marijuana on the November statewide ballot.