Marijuana Now Legal in 3 More Places

Minimum wage increases pass in 3 states
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 4, 2014 11:54 PM CST
Updated Nov 5, 2014 5:50 AM CST
Ballot Measures: Oregon, DC Legalize Pot
Adam Eidinger, chairman of the DC Cannabis Campaign, works on posters encouraging people to vote yes on DC Ballot Initiative 71 to legalize small amounts of marijuana for personal use.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Marijuana legalization advocates are on a roll: Ballot measures loosening pot laws have passed in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, DC. The DC law—which could still be blocked by Congress—will allow residents and visitors to grow and possess marijuana but not sell it, reports the Washington Post, while the measures in Oregon and Alaska allow it to be sold in stores for recreational use, as in Washington state and Colorado. At a victory party in Portland, a prominent legalization advocate hailed the end of a "painful, discriminatory, harmful policy that has terrible consequences for our state," the Oregonian reports. Meanwhile, Guam voted last night to legalize medical marijuana, reports the Post.

In other ballot measures rounded up by the AP:

  • Minimum wage: Voters in Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota approved minimum wage increases.

  • Crime: California has voted to save hundreds of millions in prison costs by reducing the penalties for some crimes, treating offenses including shoplifting, forgery, fraud, and petty theft as misdemeanors instead of felonies.
  • Abortion: Voters in Colorado and North Dakota rejected "personhood" measures for the unborn that could have led to tough abortion restrictions, while Tennessee voted to give state lawmakers more power to regulate abortion.
  • Food labeling: Colorado voted against requiring labels on genetically modified foods. A similar measure is on the ballot in Oregon.
(More Election 2014 stories.)

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