N Dakota, Arkansas reject legal marijuana, Maryland approves

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Voters approved recreational marijuana in Maryland and rejected it in Arkansas and North Dakota in elections seen as a test of legalization’s support in even the most conservative parts of the country.

Maryland’s vote for legalization made the state the 20th to take that step. Measures also were on the ballot in Missouri and South Dakota.

“By voting for legalization, Marylanders have rejected the failed ideas of the past and have chosen to reform their laws to protect civil liberties and promote racial justice,” Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, one of the nation’s oldest legalization advocacy groups, said in a statement.

ESSENTIAL ELECTION COVERAGE

The state voting in Tuesday’s elections follows moves by President Joe Biden toward decriminalizing marijuana. Biden last month announced he was pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law.

Advocates of the marijuana initiatives have said Biden’s announcement may give a boost to their efforts.

Heading into the election, recreational marijuana was legal in 19 states, and polls have shown opposition to legalization softening. All of the states with recreational marijuana on the ballot, except for Maryland, voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

About 6 in 10 voters support legalizing the recreational use of marijuana nationwide, according to VoteCast, an extensive survey of more than 90,000 voters nationwide conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.

The five states currently have legal medical marijuana programs. That includes Arkansas, which in 2016 became the first Bible Belt state to approve medical marijuana. The state’s dispensaries opened in 2019, and more than 91,000 patients have cards to legally buy marijuana for medical conditions.

The legalization campaigns raised about $23 million in the five states, with the vast majority in Arkansas and Missouri. More than 85% of contributions in those two states came from donors associated with companies holding medical marijuana licenses, according to an Associated Press analysis of the most recent campaign finance reports.

In Arkansas, supporters ran upbeat ads touting the thousands of jobs they said would be created by the measure. Opponents ran more ominous spots, warning voters to “protect Arkansas from big marijuana.”

Via – Apnews