The Other Big Election Winner: Recreational Marijuana Use

Republican nominee turned President-elect Donald Trump was the biggest winner Tuesday night. But marijuana advocates were not far behind.

While Trump and others were calling his federal victory “historic” in the wee hours of this morning, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) was describing state victories for cannabis with the same adjective.

The lobbying organization devoted to ending marijuana prohibition proclaimed early today that voters in four states adopted initiatives on Tuesday to legalize marijuana for recreational use:

1. California
2. Maine
3. Massachusetts
4. Nevada

Others considered Maine’s decision too close to call as late as Wednesday afternoon, however.

Shortly before noon, the New York Times reported that 50.2 percent of votes were “Yes” and 49.8 percent were “No,” with 93 percent of precincts having reported.

This brings the total number of states where recreational use is legal to either seven or eight. The states that had previously legalized it are:

1. Alaska
2. Colorado
3. Oregon
4. Washington

Also on Tuesday, voters in three states approved medical marijuana laws:

• Arkansas
• Florida
• North Dakota

Additionally, voters in Montana approved what MPP describes as “an initiative to re-establish patients’ access to medical marijuana providers, which was hindered by state lawmakers, and create a more regulated system of medical marijuana production and distribution.”

Voters in Arizona, however, rejected Proposition 205. The amendment, as worded on Arizona ballots, would have allowed people to “possess, grow and buy marijuana from state-licensed facilities for personal use.”

To learn how you can profit from expanding pot legalization, check out “3 Ways You Can Make Some Green from Legal Marijuana.”

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