Marijuana Embraced in Michigan, Utah and Missouri, but Rejected in North Dakota

Marijuana initiatives appeared on ballots in four states in the midterm elections. In Michigan and North Dakota, initiatives gave voters the opportunity to legalize marijuana for recreational use. In Missouri and Utah, voters chose whether to allow people who are sick to use the drug for medical reasons.

Here are the results of those initiatives.

Michigan voters legalized the sale and use of marijuana

Michigan became the first Midwestern state to legalize recreational marijuana, and the 10th state, in addition to the District of Columbia, to allow adults to possess the drug in small amounts for recreational use. Fifty-six percent of the state’s voters cast ballots in favor of the measure.

In doing so, voters endorsed Proposal 1, the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, which permits people who are 21 or older to possess and grow cannabis and related concentrates for personal use. It also licenses commercial production and retail sales of marijuana.

Advocates of legalization said the measure would curb arrests and redirect tax money. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which tracked the progress of the Michigan vote and the marijuana ballot initiatives in other states, said voters’ approval of Proposal 1 was a “resounding rebuke” of the state’s policy of prohibition and of its “racist application” of arrests. [Read More @ NY Times]