Nevada Voters Approve Legalized Recreational Marijuana
November 10, 2016 1:11 pmHaving legalized medical marijuana back in 2000, Nevada residents have now voted to allow for its recreational use by adults aged 21 and over, provided they possess one ounce or less of the drug. The ballot took place on November 8th, and on the same day California and Massachusetts also returned positive votes on the issue.
As a result, around one-quarter of US states now permit the legal recreational use of marijuana, including Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C. The addition of California, the country’s richest and most populous state, however, represents a major victory for pro-marijuana groups, and commenting on the development, Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, stated:
“This represents a monumental victory for the marijuana reform movement. With California’s leadership now, the end of marijuana prohibition nationally, and even internationally, is fast approaching.”
Now states such as Nevada and Califronia are expected to follow the examples of other legalized states by allowing the opening of recreational marijuana shops, and the setting up of public smoking areas. This in turn could help drive more tourists, especially millennials, to these states, in the same way that Denver saw its visitor numbers increase by one million people after Colorado legalized marijuana in 2014.
Nevertheless, Nevada casinos are unlikely to allow the smoking of weed on their properties as the possession of marijuana still continues to be a federal felony. In fact, the Nevada Gaming Control Board insists that none of its licensed casinos should have any involvement in the marijuana industry.
Elsewhere around the US, Arkansas, Florida, Montana and North Dakota also voted in favor of the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes only, and as Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, commented:
“This is a major tipping point: With Florida’s decision, a majority of states in the U.S. now have laws allowing patients to find relief with medical marijuana, and these protections and programs are no longer concentrated in certain regions of the country like the West and Northeast.”