Voters back legal marijuana in Oregon, Alaska, Washington, D.C.

Chicago Trbunes
November 5, 2014

Voters back legal marijuana in Oregon, Alaska, Washington, D.C.
http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81873295/

GARY CAMERON / REUTERS

Melvin Clay of the DC Cannabis Campaign holds a sign urging voters to
legalize marijuana, at the Eastern Market polling station in Washington
November 4, 2014.

Residents of Oregon, Alaska, and the nation's capital voted to legalize
marijuana on Tuesday, in key victories that could fuel the legalization
movement as cannabis usage is increasingly recognized by the American
mainstream.

The Oregon and Alaska measures would legalize recreational pot use and usher
in a network of retail pot shops similar to those operating in Washington
state and Colorado, which in 2012 voted to become the first states to allow
marijuana use for fun.

A less far-reaching proposal in the District of Columbia to allow marijuana
possession but not retail sales won nearly 65 percent of the vote with all
precincts reporting, unofficial results showed.

The referendums come amid shifts in American opinions on marijuana in recent
years that have energized efforts to legalize cannabis, a drug that remains
illegal under federal law even as Colorado and Washington state have been
given the go-ahead to experiment with legalization.

"In 2016 we're going to push the ball forward in several states until we end
prohibition," Leland Berger, a Portland attorney who helped write the new
law, told Reuters outside a packed Portland nightclub where advocates
declared victory amid pot-centric revelry.

Advocates have portrayed the District of Columbia measure as a civil rights
issue, saying studies have shown that African Americans are
disproportionately more likely to be arrested on marijuana charges than are
people of other races.

The D.C. measure had been strongly favored to pass but could still be halted
during a review by the U.S. Congress, which has constitutional oversight
over the capital. The measure would allow adults 21 and older to possess up
to two ounces of cannabis and grow up to six plants.

Pot opponents to fight on

The Oregon law, which drew 54 percent support in preliminary returns, takes
effect in July 2015 and stores could open the following year.

The Alaska measure was leading by about 52-48 percent with nearly 97 percent
of precincts reporting preliminary results late on Tuesday, and groups for
and against the initiative said it had passed.

If given official approval, a regulatory body would have nine months to
write regulations after the election is certified and the measure becomes
law, with stores likely coming at some point in 2016.

Opponents of legal weed in Oregon say they would take their fight to the
Oregon legislature, pushing for stricter laws designed to limit access to
pot by children, among other efforts.

Kevin Sabet, co-founder of anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to
Marijuana, said his group would redouble its efforts to build a broader
coalition to beat back better-funded pro-cannabis groups ahead of what is
expected to be an expanded fight in 2016.

"Tonight is going to inspire us to do better and to try harder and go after
the donors we have to go after in order to level the playing field," Sabet
said. "The more people that hear about legalization, the more people are
uncomfortable with it. For us it's about getting our message out."

Meanwhile, a proposed constitutional amendment to make Florida the 24th
state and the first in the South to allow medical marijuana was defeated
after falling short of the 60 percent support needed to pass, according to
groups both for and against the measure.

In Maine, a proposal to legalize the possession of small amounts of
recreational marijuana failed in Lewiston and passed in South Portland,
advocacy groups said. In Guam, unofficial results indicated it became the
first U.S. territory to approve medical marijuana, an election official
there said.


--
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Drugs & Democracy Programme
De Wittenstraat 25
1052 AK Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: + 31 20 662 66 08
Fax: + 31 20 675 71 76
Email: drugs@tni.org
http://www.druglawreform.info/en/home
http://www.tni.org/work-area/drugs-and-democracy

_______________________________________________
Dd-world mailing list
https://lists.tni.org/mailman/listinfo/dd-world