{"id":6994,"date":"2016-11-20T09:39:19","date_gmt":"2016-11-20T09:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=5445"},"modified":"2016-11-20T09:39:19","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T09:39:19","slug":"recreational-marijuana-approved-in-four-states-medical-marijuana-in-three-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/recreational-marijuana-approved-in-four-states-medical-marijuana-in-three-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Recreational Marijuana Approved In Four States, Medical Marijuana In Three Others"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/recreational-marijuana-approved-in-four-states-medical-marijuana-in-three-others\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>San Francisco &#8211; Americans across the country voted Tuesday for the right to inhale without going to jail, legalizing recreational marijuana in four states, and medical marijuana in three others.<\/p>\n<p>In California, where medical marijuana is already legal, voters approved recreational pot, a major coup for backers of pot legalization.<\/p>\n<p>The new laws make pot legal in some form in more than half the country &#8211; 28 states &#8211; redrawing the legal landscape and presenting a challenge to federal authorities.<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press projected recreational pot measures also passing in Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada; and medical pot measures passing in Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota. A recreational pot measure failed in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>The results mean that nearly 68 million Americans, or about 21% of the U.S. population, will now live somewhere where it is legal to use marijuana for fun.<\/p>\n<p>California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada follow in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington state, which legalized recreational pot in 2012, and Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia, which did so two years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the most momentous Election Day in history for the movement to end marijuana prohibition,\u201d said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which supported pot measures across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group that fought the pot measures, called the results in California and Massachusetts disappointing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLegalization has a long and winding road to implementation and we will be working with localities to ensure they know their rights and obligations to protect their citizens from pot shops, candies and advertising,\u201d said Mr. Sabet.<\/p>\n<p>The results reflect the country\u2019s growing affection for cannabis. Sixty percent of Americans now favor legalizing marijuana, according to a Gallup poll from October. That is the highest level of support since Gallup first asked the question back in 1969 when just 12% of Americans supported legalization.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, the impact of Tuesdays\u2019 results on the federal prohibition on pot remains to be seen, marijuana policy experts said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the passage of [the California measure] there will now be a stronger voice for marijuana reform in D.C.,\u201d said Beau Kilmer, who co-directs the RAND Drug Policy Research Center. \u201cThat said, the federal approach to marijuana will be shaped by who moves into the White House in January.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The recreational pot measures allow adults 21 and over to use and possess marijuana, but pot stores won\u2019t be opening tomorrow, because the new laws give states time to license marijuana growers and retailers.<\/p>\n<p>For some voters, the appeal of legalizing marijuana had more to do with tax revenue than it did with lighting up.<\/p>\n<p>In West Hollywood, Casey Smith, a 21-year-old songwriter, said she never used drugs, but voted \u201cyes\u201d because \u201cit\u2019s going to make money for the state with the taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>California\u2019s initiative could eventually bring in more than $1 billion annually for state and local government, according to estimates from the state\u2019s legislative analyst. That figure would be considerably lower in the first several years, as California begins to license recreational marijuana businesses, the estimates show.<\/p>\n<p>But voters were also concerned about the impact on children. Nevada\u2019s Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval campaigned against legalizing marijuana, and struck a chord with some residents. Mark Hart, a 52-year-old mine mechanic who voted for Donald Trump, said he voted \u201cno\u201d on the Nevada measure. \u201cI don\u2019t like the idea of candy edibles,\u201d he said, \u201cand it\u2019s too accessible to kids.\u201d But the measure still passed.<\/p>\n<p>Budget-minded pot smokers may also come out as big winners in Tuesday\u2019s election. The price of marijuana will likely drop over time because of legalization, industry experts said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver the long term, it should be like tea or tobacco,\u201d said Dale Gieringer, California state coordinator for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. \u201cNot $1,000 a pound.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/recreational-marijuana-approved-in-four-states-medical-marijuana-in-three-others.PNG\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"> <\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Katelyn Baker <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/voters-approve-recreational-marijuana-in-at-least-three-states-medical-marijuana-in-others-1478677170\" target=\"_blank\">Voters Approved Recreational Marijuana In Four States, Medical Marijuana In Three Others<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Zusha Elinson<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"https:\/\/customercenter.wsj.com\/public\/view\/contactinformation.html\" target=\"_blank\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: Mario Anzuoni<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco &#8211; Americans across the country voted Tuesday for the right to inhale without going to jail, legalizing recreational&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2016\/11\/recreational-marijuana-approved-four-states-medical-marijuana-three-others\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1597,9,1,3],"tags":[4165],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}