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Cannabis in America
Election Results: How Did States Vote on Recreational Marijuana?
While people anxiously awaited the results of the 2016 presidential election, Marijuana legalization--one of the nation's top categories of ballot measures--had a strong and decisive night. Four states joined Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia in legalizing recreational marijuana for adults 21 years and older. Find out how America voted below!
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Results: Passed
Question 4 legalized recreational marijuana for those over 21, and will regulate it similarly to alcoholic beverages.
Analysis: Massachusetts voters approved the measure with 54 percent of the votes, with 98 percent of the votes reported Wednesday morning. The vote means the drug will become legal for use on December 15, and marijuana shops can open in 2018.
According to Boston.com, backers of the measure said that removing prohibitions on adult use of marijuana would largely remove the drug from the black market and generate a new stream of tax revenue. On the other hand, some opponents of the ballot measure labeled marijuana a “gateway drug” and worried that candy-like edibles could potentially get into the hands of children.
For more information on marijuana legalization state by state, click here for “The State of Weed.”
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