Voters Approve Marijuana Legalization in Two States and D.C.

Yesterday voters approved three of
the four
major marijuana reform measures on this year’s ballots,
legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Alaska, Oregon, and
Washington, D.C. All three of the general legalization measures
succeeded, while Florida’s medical marijuana initiative failed to
win the supermajority it needed, although it was supported by most
voters. Here is a summary of the results, with links to
more-detailed discussions:

Washington, D.C. Initiative 91, which legalizes
possession, home cultivation, and sharing of marijuana but not
commercial production or distribution, won by a margin of more than
2 to 1: 69 percent to 31 percent. The D.C. Council now must decide
whether and how to license growers and sellers, while Congress
decides whether to tolerate this dramatic break from 77 years of
prohibition in the nation’s capital.

Oregon. Measure 91, which legalizes the
recreational marijuana business along with possession and home
cultivation, was supported by 54 percent of voters. That made
Oregon the third state to approve broad legalization.

Alaska. Private possession of marijuana for
personal use has been legal in Alaska since 1975, but cannabis
consumers there still have no legal place to buy it. Voters
addressed that problem by approving Measure 2, an initiative
similar to Oregon’s. It was supported by 52 percent of voters,
making Alaska the fourth state to legalize marijuana.

Florida. Amendment 2, which would have made
Florida the 24th state and the first in the South to allow medical
use of marijuana, was favored by most voters but fell three points
short of the 60 percent needed to amend the state constitution. Its
backers say they will try again in 2016.

Just two years have elapsed since voters approved marijuana
legalization in Colorado and Washington, where state-licensed
recreational sales began only this year, and already the number of
states with legal pot has doubled. Given the minimal track record
in Colorado and Washington, the approval of legalization in D.C.,
Oregon, and Alaska suggests that the antiprohibitionist movement is
on a roll. There may be bigger victories in 2016, when legalization
is expected to
be on the ballot in California, Arizona, Nevada, Montana,
Maine, and Massachusetts.