Colorado & Washington State Marijuana Legalization a Milestone for Advocacy Groups; Medical Use Legalized in Massachusetts

Referenda passed in Washington State and Colorado have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, in what advocates are hoping is the beginning of a sea change in U.S. policy. The Associated Press called passage of the referenda, “a milestone for persistent but often thwarted advocacy groups,” who have been seeking legalization for some 50 years.

Under Initiative 502 in Washington, state-licensed growers, processors and stores will make up to an ounce of marijuana available to individuals. That ounce will be heavily taxed though, at 25 percent each time the substance moves along the chain of commerce from seller to processor, to retailer, to consumer, CNN reported.

Law enforcement officials in Washington will also be able to test drivers for legal limits of the in their blood.

According to Amendment 64 in Colorado, adults over 21 can possess up to one ounce of pot, although public use of the drug is banned. Adults can also grow up to six plants, the AP reported.

The Drug Enforcement Agency released a statement saying, “In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. The Department of Justice is reviewing the ballot initiatives, and we have no additional comment at this time,” as reported by CNN.

A similar measure in Oregon was defeated.

Massachusetts will now allow the use of medical marijuana, joining the 17 other states where medical marijuana is legal. A similar measure failed to pass in Arkansas.

“Yesterday’s elections have forever changed the playing field regarding cannabis prohibition laws in America (and probably in large parts of the world too),” Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) wrote in his blog yesterday, as reported by CNN.  He called it, "The beginning of the end." NORML is a lobbying group that advocates for legaliztion.

“The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will,” Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said in a written statement released by his office. “This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through. That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don’t break out the Cheetos or gold fish too quickly.”