Three others are deciding whether to permit marijuana for medical purposes.
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Arizona’s Proposition 205 would create the Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control and allow for the recreational use of marijuana for people 21 and over.
Voters were poised Tuesday to expand legalized marijuana and raise wages for hourly workers in a handful of states across the country.
Now, four states, Washington, California, Maine and Nevada are voting on gun laws.
Nevada’s Question No. 2 allows for the recreational use of pot for people 21 and older. While this pales in comparison to what California could bring to the table – potentially $1 billion in annual tax revenue just from recreational pot – it would still be a major victory for the cannabis industry if MA voters approve Question 4. People 21 or older could possess up to 1 ounce and grow up to six plants in their homes. “Polls point to favorable votes both in California and Florida”, JPMorgan analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas wrote in a note to clients Monday. Colorado generated $135 million in tax and licensing revenue from marijuana in 2015.
Sales of the drug in Arizona would be taxed at 15 percent, generating $53.4 million in 2019 and $82 million in 2020, according to a report by the nonpartisan Joint Legislative Budget Committee. There’s no polling data on North Dakota’s medical marijuana measure. California is a odd beast. Support has been so consistent that a failure to pass the legalization proposal in California would be the only truly surprising outcome among all five state legalization measures. If the pot industry can succeed within that state, it would be a major step forward to perhaps a nationwide legalization someday.
The Bay State has been on marijuana legalization advocates’ agenda for quite a while.
MA may be the most interesting marijuana contest on the ballot this fall.
Montana’s Initiative No. 182 legalizes marijuana for medical purposes as prescribed by a physician.
– BILINGUAL EDUCATION: A measure in California would roll back a voter-approved 1998 ban on teaching English in any language other than English.
An approval of Prop 64 would be the crown jewel for the marijuana movement.
Entering Tuesday’s votes, recreational pot use is already legal is Washington state, Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia.
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It is the No. 1 illicit drug of choice for Americans, according to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use, although only one-third of users reported an addiction to the substance, unlike most all the other illicit drugs used. A larger OH Predictive Insights poll from late September showed 43% in favor, with 47% opposed and 10% undecided. “Surveys in recent weeks show the proposition enjoys solid support, anywhere from a just-barely-respectable 51 percent to an impressive over-the-top win with 71 percent of voters backing the legalization of pot starting on November 9”. An October poll run by Suffolk University and the Boston Globe was a little less sure, with 55% for, 40% against, and 5% undecided. While Question 2-asking voters if the state should raise the cap on charter schools and their funding-has dominated local politics in the lead up to the election, Question 4 promises to bring its own change.
