North Dakota VotersArkansas and Arkansas have rejected marijuana legalization plans, but Maryland approved it. Similar measures were also on the ballot in Missouri, South Dakota, and South Dakota.
North Dakota would allow anyone aged 21 or older to legalize marijuana use at home and possess limited amounts of cannabis. These initiatives were a result of President Joe Biden’s recent efforts to decriminalize marijuana. Biden announced last month that he would pardon thousands of Americans who were convicted under federal law of simple possession. Nineteen other states had legalized marijuana.
North Dakota supporters of legalizing recreational marijuana were successful in getting the matter on the ballot by submitting more valid petition signatures than the required 15,582 to make it eligible.
MIDTERM ELUTIONS 2022: LIVE UPDATE
North Dakota voters rejected in 2018 a marijuana legalization proposal that included a provision to erase all pot-related convictions.
Jackson, Michigan is where cannabis plants are grown. Voters in Arkansas and North Dakota rejected a proposal to legalize marijuana for recreational use in the 2018 elections.
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
In 2016, North Dakota voters approved medical marijuana.
MARYLAND VOTERS REJECT LEGALIZATION RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA
Arkansas was the only state where the proposal was rejected after six years. Arkansas votersThe state was the first to legalize medical marijuana in the Bible Belt. The state’s dispensaries opened in 2019.
Adults 21 years and older would be allowed to legally possess one ounce of marijuana for personal, non-medical use. The measure would have also allowed adults to purchase marijuana for recreational purposes from state-licensed dispensaries.
ONE OF THE FIVE STATES THAT COULD LEGALIZE MARIJUANA WITH MIDTERM INITIATIVES.
The initiative drew millions of dollars from supporters and opponents of legalization, with ads crowding the state’s airwaves. Republican Gov. Asa HutchinsonFormer head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Dr. Corey Johnson, opposed the measure.
A surprising alliance was formed by some legalization opponents and marijuana advocates to oppose the measure. Backers of previous legalization efforts have claimed that the measure is too restrictive and will only benefit a few dispensaries.
