Legalization advocates hail ballot results as a sign of progress, but medical pot stalls in Florida
Voters in Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use Tuesday, following in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington, which legalized the drug in 2012. A ballot measure to legalize marijuana for medical purposes failed in Florida, the Associated Press reports, where voters failed to meet the 60 percent threshold needed to pass a constitutional amendment.
Alaska’s measure passed by a slight majority Tuesday, with about 52 percent of the vote and 97 percent of precincts reporting. Under the initiative, adults 21 and older can have up to one ounce of marijuana and six plants, with production and sales regulated by a state commission. It won’t go into effect until 90 days after the election has been certified, and the state will then have 18 months to implement regulations.
Oregon’s ballot, Measure 91, allows anyone over the age of 21 to possess up to eight ounces of weed and four marijuana plants. Production and sales will be regulated by the state’s liquor board, with tax revenues going toward enforcement and education initiatives. The initiative calls for marijuana to be legalized by July 1st, 2015, and for the state liquor board to implement regulations by…