In the next few months cannabis legalization measures will be going into effect in Washington state and Colorado, and already prosecutors all over both states are dropping charges against cannabis users.
Now, just weeks after those measures were voted on out west, there are a few states on the east coast that are now following suit and making moves to get the beneficial plant legalized in their area.
According to Reason:
“State legislators in Rhode Island and Maine will announce bills tomorrow to legalize recreational marijuana, a spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project announced today.
Rhode Island Rep. Edith Ajello and Maine Rep. Diane Russell will hold a conference call tomorrow with the Marijuana Policy Project to announce the legislation.
MPP says that “similar proposals will be submitted in at least two other states — Vermont and Massachusetts.” A ballot iniative legalizing medical marijuana passed in Massachusetts last week with more than 60 percent of the vote.
Maine voters voted to expand the state’s 1999 medical marijuana law in 2009 to include dispensaries. The Rhode Island legislature decriminalizedmarijuana earlier this year, and has had medical marijuana since 2006″
The east coast has been far behind in efforts to legalize cannabis, in comparison to the west where many states have had medical programs for some time.
If these measures are taken seriously in these areas and do well, the effects will undoubtedly spread farther down the east coast, towards areas closer to DC and farther down south where cannabis users face some of the worst persecution.
Areas of New England have a much more laid back approach to cannabis, as we see with the announcement of these new bills.