On Election Day, November 6, 2012, the voters of Colorado and Washington State voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use. People in Colorado are already looking to buy marijuana but under the new law, people cannot begin buying pot until next year. Colorado still needs to set up a regulatory framework to handle what is expected to be a big expansion of its marijuana market even though Colorado already has had more medical marijuana dispensaries than it has Starbucks.<\/p>\n
Colorado is already seeing the effects of legalizing marijuana. There are more and better marijuana products in the stores such as well-grown medicine. Prices have also come down. In 2009, an ounce of marijuana was $400 but now the price is around $250. Next year, when legalization is fully implemented, prices could fall even further.<\/p>\n
However, under federal law, marijuana is still an illegal drug. There will inevitably be a clash between the state law of Washington and Colorado with federal law.<\/p>\n
In California, pot is still illegal for recreational use but not for medicinal use. In California, a person may consume and possess pot as long as they have a recommendation from their doctor that using medical marijuana would be beneficial.<\/p>\n
There is a possibility that more states, such as California will eventually also legalize the recreational use of marijuana. People in California have been working to legalize marijuana for recreational use<\/p>\n
Lawmakers in Rhode Island and Maine are planning to introduce legalization bills next year. It has been said that the question of legalized marijuana across the nation is not whether, but when.<\/p>\n