In This Election, Voters United Behind Pot Legalization

Voters Unite Behind Pot Legalization Legal guidelines

By R. Scott Rappold
WebMD Well being Information

Nov. 10, 2016 --People could not have agreed on a lot this election, however they have been united round one subject: marijuana legalization.

Voters in California, Massachusetts, and Nevada accredited leisure marijuana. In Maine, a vote to legalize leisure marijuana seems to have narrowly handed. Voters in Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota supported medical marijuana. Solely in Arizona did voters reject marijuana in 2016.

"Most voters don't suppose in any other case law-abiding residents must be criminalized for utilizing a product that's a lot safer than alcohol," says Rob Kampia, govt director of the Marijuana Coverage Undertaking. "They need marijuana to be offered inside regulated, taxpaying companies, not on the streets, the place gross sales enrich cartels and drug sellers. There's a consensus that legislation enforcement must be preventing severe crimes moderately than implementing failed and deeply unpopular insurance policies."

The states that legalized leisure marijuana be part of Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington in permitting adults to make use of it.

In California, which with 38 million folks will quickly turn out to be the most important authorized marijuana market within the U.S., legalization handed with 56% of the vote. That state already has a strong medical marijuana business, however Proposition 64 permits anybody 21 and older to own as much as an oz and to develop as much as six vegetation. It takes impact instantly, although for now there's nowhere to legally purchase it. The state has till Jan. 1, 2018, to start issuing licenses for leisure shops.

In neighboring Nevada, a near-identical poll measure handed with 54% of the vote. Decriminalization takes impact on Jan. 1, 2017, and the state will start licensing leisure shops the next 12 months.

Elsewhere, leisure marijuana scored its first main victories east of the Rockies. In Maine, unofficial outcomes indicated 50.5% of voters accredited legalization. The vote wasn't as shut in Massachusetts, the place 53.6% supported legalization. Neither state plans to permit marijuana shops to open anytime quickly, however adults in Maine can now possess as much as 2.5 ounces and have six vegetation of their house, whereas adults in Massachusetts can have 1 ounce on their individual, 10 ounces at house, and 6 vegetation for private use.