Marijuana measures trending favorably in U.S. states
Tuesday night shaped up to be the “watershed” moment predicted for the marijuana industry.
Voters in five states — Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada — were deciding whether to legalize the recreational use of cannabis; and residents in four other states — Arkansas, Florida, Montana and North Dakota — were weighing medical marijuana measures.
By 10:15 p.m., the vast majority of those measures were headed to passage, notably California’s Proposition 64, which would legalize sales of marijuana for recreational use in the nation’s most-populous state. The Associated Press called the race in favor of Proposition 64, which has been viewed as a linchpin for marijuana legalization. The measure was ahead with 1,951,538 votes for, or 56 percent, to 1,528,434 votes against, or 44 percent, with 19.7 percent of precincts reporting.
Massachusetts’ recreational measure also passed, according to The Associated Press, as the state became the first on the East Coast to legalize adult use of marijuana with 53 percent in favor.
Florida was the first to turn green, with medical marijuana Amendment 2 garnering more than 71 percent of the vote.
North Dakota appeared to be second, with more than 64 percent of voters favoring medical marijuana statutory measure No. 5, with 74 percent of precincts reporting.
By 10:15 p.m. MST, Arkansas’ medical marijuana measure was leading, 52 percent, or 458,886 votes for, to 48 percent, or 421,958 votes against, with 68 percent of precincts reporting.
In Maine, with 57 percent of precincts reporting, the recreational marijuana measure had a narrow lead — 51 percent, or 224,729 votes, to 49 percent, or 215,744 votes, according to The Associated Press.
Massachusetts’ recreational measure was close, with 52 percent in favor — 405,525 votes for and 370,943 votes against — with 22 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, according to AP.
With 14 percent of the precincts reporting in Nevada, the Silver State’s recreational measure was leading with 417,111 votes for, or 53 percent, to 363,815 votes against, or 47 percent.
In Montana, with 5.8 percent of precincts reporting, the measure to expand the state’s medical marijuana laws was ahead with 121,674 votes for, or 57 percent, to 90,833 votes against, or 42 percent.
However, it didn’t appear that it would be a clean sweep for marijuana legalization efforts.
Arizona’s heavily contested Proposition 205 was down, with 832,004 votes against, or 53 percent, and 745,382 votes in favor, or 47 percent, with 52 percent of precincts reporting.
Marijuana policy experts have said that the more states adopting marijuana laws — especially the economic force of the populous California — could push the needle a little further in the direction of broad-scale federal legalization. Prior to Tuesday, half of the U.S. states had medical marijuana laws in place and a few others — Colorado, Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C. — had legalized the recreational use of marijuana.
Federal legalization likely won’t happen with a flip of the switch, experts have said, but the increased adoption of these laws could spur increased dialogue on banking- and tax-related issues that have dogged the industry.
The two leading presidential candidates have said they support marijuana legalization from a states’ rights perspective. Democrat Hillary Clinton committed to rescheduling marijuana to Schedule II, and Republican Donald Trump appeared to be hands-off on this topic. But some of Trump’s rhetoric around substance abuse “would lead you to believe he’s certainly not going to be a reformer,” John Hudak, senior fellow in governance studies and deputy director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution, has said.
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