Five states will vote in the upcoming midterms on initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana, but attention is also focused on a slew of local-level ballot measures in dozens of municipalities across the country that would either expand or restrict the availability of the drug. The number of measures that voters will decide on reflects the nation’s evolving attitudes toward marijuana, the Pew Trust points out, with a majority of Americans saying they favor legalization. Currently, 19 states plus the District of Columbia already allow adult-use pot, and 40 states have legalized medical cannabis. If the five new states—Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, and the Dakotas—approve legalization, nearly half of all states will allow a marijuana industry. But it’s the ballot measures in other states that tell the story of the legalization movement and the continuing skepticism about moving in this direction. In Colorado, for example, a legal state, voters in the city of Colorado Springs will decide whether 100 medical cannabis dispensaries will be allowed to expand to selling recreational weed, in part to offset the city’s ban on recreational sales after it opted out of allowing retail sales within the city limits. In Rhode Island, which legalized pot earlier this year, communities will decide whether to ban local dispensaries, while in Michigan, they will be asked whether to overturn such a ban. The measures suggest that there is still wariness on the local level about legalizing marijuana and increasing access to it, and the dangers that it poses to vulnerable young people and communities, as well as increasing traffic accidents due to driving under the influence.
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