Voters in North Dakota and Arkansas have rejected measures to legalize marijuana, while those in Maryland have approved legalization. Similar measures also were on the ballot in Missouri and South Dakota.
In North Dakota, the initiative would have allowed people 21 and older to legally use marijuana at home as well as possess and cultivate restricted amounts of cannabis. The ballot initiatives in the five states follow 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. Nineteen other states had already legalized marijuana.
Supporters of legalizing recreational marijuana in North Dakota succeeded in bringing the matter to a public vote by submitting more than the required 15,582 valid petition signatures to get it on the ballot.
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North Dakota voters in 2018 also soundly rejected a marijuana legalization initiative that also included a provision that would have wiped out past pot-related convictions.
Cannabis plants grow in Jackson, Michigan. Voters in North Dakota and Arkansas have struck down a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in this year's elections. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
North Dakota voters approved medical marijuana in 2016.
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In Arkansas, the proposal failed six years after Arkansas voters made the state the first in the Bible Belt to legalize medical marijuana. The state’s dispensaries opened in 2019.
The measure would have allowed adults 21 and older to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana for non-medical purposes. It also would have allowed adults to buy marijuana for recreational use from state-licensed dispensaries.
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The initiative drew millions of dollars from supporters and opponents of legalization, with ads crowding the state’s airwaves. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a former head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, opposed the measure.
An unlikely alliance of legalization opponents and some marijuana advocates formed to campaign against the measure. Supporters of past legalization efforts have argued the measure is too limited and would only benefit a small number of dispensaries.
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