In a Tuesday statewide Oklahoma election, State Question 820 that would have legalized recreational marijuana in Oklahoma was rejected when 62 percent of votes were cast against it.
Tag: ballot measures
In August I wrote about marijuana legalization ballot measures that would be voted on in the November 8 election in five states — Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Here is an update on the results of those votes held on Tuesday of this week: While legalization failed to win majority approval in three of the states, it was approved in Maryland and Missouri.
People in five states, plus a sixth if enough signatures are verified to place the matter on the ballot there, will be voting in the November 8 election on whether to legalize recreational marijuana in their respective states. With 19 states already having legal recreation marijuana, we could see the upcoming election results raise that count to 25 — half the states.
The Tuesday general election brought approval of several statewide ballot measures rolling back the war on drugs.
In March, I wrote about how coronavirus fear and government crackdowns undertaken in the name of countering coronavirus could be expected to prevent some drug war rollback measures from being included on November general election ballots. Qualifying such measures for inclusion on voters’ ballots typically requires the collection of many signatures, something that is harder to accomplish when there is widespread fear of coronavirus and expansive government mandates restricting people’s activities.
Traveling freely, visiting friends and family, and continuing operating a business or working at a job are all being prevented by coronavirus fear and the government crackdowns pursued in the name of countering coronavirus. Also apparently being prevented by the same factors is the ability of Americans to vote in elections this year on ballot measures that would roll back aspects of the drug war.
There was much reason for hope that marijuana legalization would be approved in several state legislatures in 2019. In January of 2019, I suggested that such action could be taken that year in any of six states — Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. By year end, Illinois was the only new state to legalize, doing so via legislation approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor.
The governor of United States territory Guam also signed into law marijuana legalization legislation in 2019.
The advancement of marijuana legalization in the states was less last year than many legalization proponents had hoped. But, the momentum remains strong. Legalization is a wave that appears set to wash over the entire country.