In the shadow of one of the most divisive presidential elections in our country?s history, a second plot line could have big consequences for cities around the United States. Voters in nine states are considering expanding access to legal marijuana on Tuesday, November 8. Five states will vote on legalizing recreational weed: Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada. Four other states?Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota?have medical marijuana on the ballot. These elections could prove a tipping point for cannabis, especially if California?s Proposition 64?Adult Use of Marijuana Act passes. Already, about 50 percent of the states have legalized medical marijuana. Cannabis advocates believe that a win in California?where legalizing recreational weed is expected to pass?will open the floodgates for other states to follow. As Hadley Ford, CEO of cannabis-financing company iAnthus says, "The most important part of the upcoming election in November are in the states that are voting for recreational referendums to pass." Ford goes on, "A referendum passing in California will be a big win nationwide as California typically tends to be the state that leads trends in the nation." If all of the November measures pass, the percentage of Americans living in states where pot use is legal could rise from about 5 percent to as much as 25 percent.
Passage in America?s most populous state?California?would make pot legal up and down the We...