State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Election May Be a Turning Point for Legal Marijuana

The New York Times: SAN FRANCISCO — To the red-and-blue map of American politics, it may be time to add green. The movement to legalize marijuana, the country’s most popular illicit drug, will take a giant leap on Election Day if California and four other states vote to allow recreational cannabis, as polls suggest they may.

The map of where pot is legal could include the entire West Coast and a bloc of states reaching from the Pacific to Colorado, raising a stronger challenge to the federal government’s ban on the drug.

In addition to California, Massachusetts and Maine both have legalization initiatives on the ballot next month that seem likely to pass. Arizona and Nevada are also voting on recreational marijuana, with polls showing Nevada voters evenly split.

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