When Secretary of State Michele Reagan put her stamp of approval on petitions bearing 177,000 signatures in Phoenix on Thursday, Arizona became the fifth state to schedule a ballot measure for November on legalizing recreational marijuana—joining California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada.
Each of the measures calls for making it legal for people older than 21 to possess small amounts of pot, taxing the drug and allowing regulated stores to sell it. Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota will vote this fall on legalizing medical marijuana. And Oklahoma may yet join the fray.
The activity is a sign of just how much momentum the movement has picked up in only a few years. In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to pass ballot measures making the sale and use of pot legal. Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia followed in 2014. Twenty-five states and D.C. have medical marijuana laws, and others have decriminalized small amounts of the drug.
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Each of the measures calls for making it legal for people older than 21 to possess small amounts of pot, taxing the drug and allowing regulated stores to sell it. Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota will vote this fall on legalizing medical marijuana. And Oklahoma may yet join the fray.
The activity is a sign of just how much momentum the movement has picked up in only a few years. In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to pass ballot measures making the sale and use of pot legal. Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia followed in 2014. Twenty-five states and D.C. have medical marijuana laws, and others have decriminalized small amounts of the drug.
Read more
