Nearly half of the US has already legalized marijuana for either medical or recreational use. This November, nine states could continue the trend.
Of those nine states, five have ballot initiatives that could result in legal recreational use, including Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona and Nevada. Most significantly, California could legalize recreational use — thus making the entire West Coast a legal enclave for recreational cannabis.
All the initiatives below will be voted on this November, alongside the presidential election. Here’s everything we know:
- Massachusetts
In Massachusetts on November 8, voters will choose yes or no on Question 4 — a bill to legalize the recreational use, possession, cultivation, and sale of marijuana. The bill calls for regulation along the lines of alcohol, if passed.Though Massachusetts is a long-running blue state, the legalization effort in the commonwealth faces serious opposition from sitting leadership in both parties. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Democratic Mayor Marty Walsh oppose recreational legalization. The two joined Attorney General Maura Healey in a Boston Globe op-ed this March opposing the measure:”Our state has already decriminalized the drug for personal use, and we’ve made it legally available for medical use. The question before us now is whether marijuana should be fully legal and widely available for commercial sale. We think the answer is ‘no.’”All that said, a majority of voters support the measure, according to the current polling average on Ballotpedia. And two previous measures — to decriminalize use and legalize medical use — passed by a wide margin.If it passes, the bill would fully legalize recreational marijuana starting on December 15, 2016.Name: Question 4Chance of passing: Good. The average of polls, according to Ballotpedia, is 48.5% support versus 42.5% oppose, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
(The 5 States Most Likely to Legalize Recreational Cannabis in November 2016 – Weed Finder™ News | Article Credit: Ben Gilbert for BusinessInsider.com)