
Five states are voting on marijuana legalization next week. Photo: Getty Images
Midterm voters in five states will determine if they should join the growing list of places where recreational marijuana use is allowed, even as any use of the drug is still illegal under federal law.
Referendums to legalize recreational use of marijuana are on Nov. 8 ballots in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, South Dakota and North Dakota. If approved, those states would join 19 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing use. The current jurisdictions account for about 44% of the United States population.
Though some Republican-trending states such as Montana and Alaska have lifted prohibitions in recent years, most that have legalized recreational use still tend to lean toward Democrats in state and national elections.
That could change this year, as four of the five states with legalization on the ballot—Arkansas, Missouri, and the Dakotas— have Republicans in control of both legislative chambers and in the governor’s office.
“We’ve seen a growing number of states in the middle of the country re-examining their marijuana laws,” said Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Denver-based cannabis law and policy firm Vicente Sederberg. “This is really just the next step in the evolution of public attitudes toward marijuana policy.
“Generally, what we find is the more people hear about and learn about marijuana, the more likely they are to support making it legal and regulated.”
Adding more states that allow for recreational use provides the possibility that members of Congress from those states will support a fledgling industry and promote federal changes, Tvert said. Read more