2014 Mid-Term Marijuana Legalization Ballot Issues

The votes have been cast and the results are in. Washington and Colorado are no longer the only states where recreational marijuana use is legal. On November 4^th, residents in Alaska, Oregon and Washington D.C. voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Conversely, Florida residents tried to pass a medical marijuana amendment but failed to get the needed 60% supermajority for passage.

The results may be in, but were you paying attention to the marijuana ballot initiatives to know what the measures said? Here’s a brief summary:

• Alaska – Residents voted 52% to 47% to legalize the manufacture, sale and possession of marijuana for individuals 21 and older. Either Alaska’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board or a Marijuana Control Board, to be created by the legislature, will implement the law. It does not prevent employers from restricting the employees’ use of marijuana. The measure will take effect 90 days after the election results are certified, which is expected to happen in late November.

• Oregon – With the passage of Oregon’s bill (56% to 44%), people ages 21 or older will be able to possess up to eight ounces of “dried” marijuana and grow up to four plants. The law also allows for the sale of marijuana. However, it does not change the state or federal laws concerning employment matters. The law will take effect on July 1, 2015.

• Washington D.C. – Due to the city’s election laws preventing residents from mandating city funds (D.C.’s City Council has this power, but can be overruled by Congress), voters were only able to vote on legalizing the possession and personal cultivation of marijuana, instead of on marijuana regulations and sales. That said, Initiative 71 passed 70% to 30%.
  
  Despite passage, there is still a chance the initiative will never take effect. There is a congressional review period, during which Congress can block the initiative. An announcement on their decision is not expected until February or March 2015.

• Florida – Amendment 2, not achieving the needed supermajority of 60%, failed even though it scored a 57% majority support.   The measure would have allowed qualifying doctors to prescribe marijuana for cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, Hepatitis C, HIV, AIDS, ALS, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, or for any other condition for which marijuana’s potential health risks are less severe than the condition. The amendment would have restricted the use of motor-vehicle operation while under the influence of marijuana and did not require employers to accommodate medical marijuana use.

While these four marijuana issues made it to the ballot, California and Colorado also had measures that did not make it to the ballot due to lack of support or interest in the measure. Though the 2014 mid-term election is over, marijuana supporters already have their eyes on November 4, 2016. In at least nine states supporters are positioning to have a ballot measure in 2016 to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

Yet, while supporters believe they have a good chance of getting those bills passed, only time will tell. Gallop Poll recently found that while 51% of individuals support marijuana for recreational use, the margin of approval has shrunk from 58% since 2013.