Three out of four states voted in favor of ballot proposals on marijuana during the midterm elections. Voters in Utah and Missouri voted in favor of patients having access to medical marijuana, while in Michigan the use of medical marijuana was already approved, but residents voted to go the extra step fully legalize pot.
Michigan will now join nine other states, Washington D.C., Canada and Uruguay as the first Midwestern state to launch a “regulated recreational marijuana market,” EcoWatch reported.
Voters in North Dakota voted down a ballot initiative on Tuesday that would have legalized recreational use of marijuana.
Our research indicates that medical marijuana progress may well stall after this latest round of successful ballot initiatives. Recreational marijuana may continue to expand into states with legal medical marijuana but will ultimately hit a wall, too.
Our caution has to do with the particular way marijuana legalization has occurred in the U.S.: at the ballot box.
Currently, 24 states have comprehensive medical marijuana programs in place, making two-thirds of the U.S. with the legalization of some kind of marijuana use. According to a Gallup poll, 72 percent of Democrats are in favor of marijuana with 51 percent of Republicans also supporting its legalization.
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