In 1969, President Nixon created the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse — his own hand-picked commission, chaired by Pennsylvania’s Republican governor Raymond P. Shafer. He expected it to hand him ammunition for the War on Drugs.
On March 22, 1972, the commission reported back. And it said the opposite.
After two years of study, the Shafer Commission concluded that possession of Marijuana for personal use should no longer be an offense. In its own words: “The criminal law is too harsh a tool to apply to personal possession [of marijuana].”
Nixon rejected his own commission’s findings. Neither his administration nor Congress ever acted on them.
That was 54 years ago.
Today, in Kentucky, the handcuffs are still coming out. Between July 2002 and June 2022, 303,264 Kentuckians were charged with cannabis offenses — about two people every hour. In Jefferson County alone, the number was 72,717. Roughly 59% of those charged were convicted, and one in ten of the 3.1 million criminal charges in that period was cannabis-related.
The people Nixon’s own experts said shouldn’t be criminals in 1972 are still being treated as criminals in 2026.
The fix is on the table. KCFC’s proposed constitutional amendment would let adults 21 and older possess up to one ounce of cannabis and cultivate, harvest, and store up to five plants for personal use. Voters would ratify the amendment, and the General Assembly would regulate production, processing, and sale. Kentucky doesn’t allow citizen ballot initiatives, so our petition at change.org/LetKentuckyVote — nearly 9,800 verified signatures as of this morning — exists to show legislators the people demand a vote.
Nixon’s own commission called the law too harsh in 1972. It’s long past time Kentucky agreed.
Sign the petition. Share this post. Tell your legislator: let Kentuckians vote.