Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota have measures on their ballots this fall for voters to consider legalizing recreational marijuana.
A decade since Colorado and Washington approved recreational cannabis, prohibitions have fallen across the country: in big, populous states like California and New York and smaller rural ones like Maine and Vermont. States in the Deep South have not legalized marijuana for recreational use, for the most part, but many have enacted medical cannabis programs.
Maryland lawmakers voted earlier this year to put the question on the ballot, asking voters if marijuana should be legal for those 21 and older. The proposed constitutional amendment says recreational marijuana wouldn't be legal until July 2023, with a transitional period between Jan. 1 and July 1. A North Dakota ballot initiative succeeded in placing the recreational marijuana question before voters this year. That means if the question is approved those 21 and older could legally use marijuana at home as well as possess and cultivate a controlled amount of cannabis. The measure also sets up policies to regulate retail stores, cultivators, and other marijuana businesses.
Backers of a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in Oklahoma got enough signatures to get the issue before voters there but not in time to get it on this November's ballot. They'll vote on it in March instead.Federally, marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD, and can carry criminal penalties for possession.
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