Following Tuesday’s midterms, Maryland and Missouri voters approved recreational marijuana – the 20th and 21st states to do so. Conversely, Arkansas and North Dakota voters rejected the proposal. Regardless, sentiment is growing even in conservative portions of the country to legalize the drug.
Lawmakers in Washington should take note of the results, advocates said.
CEO and President of the Marijuana Policy Project, Toi Hutchinson, points to “A growing number of voters recognize that cannabis policy reform is in the best interest of public health and safety, criminal justice reform, social equity, and personal freedom… State-level legalization victories are what’s necessary to move the needle forward at the federal level.”
Drug attitudes are indeed changing. Last month, President Biden announced that thousands of Americans convicted of marijuana possession under federal law would be pardoned.
As part of Missouri’s measure, recreational marijuana will be legal for adults 21 and older. It will also delete earlier criminal records involving nonviolent marijuana offenses. This excludes circumstances involving selling to minors and driving drunk.
Similarly, Maryland will alter the state’s criminal law involving marijuana and establish automatic expungements of prior marijuana possession convictions.
In a VoteCast poll conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for The Associated Press, about 6 in 10 voters support legalizing marijuana for recreational use nationwide.
