Marijuana wins big on election night
California's adoption of legal marijuana could prompt federal authorities to rethink their decades-long prohibition on the use of marijuana
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
California, Massachusetts and Nevada approved recreational marijuana initiatives, and other states passed medical marijuana provisions, in what is turning out to be the biggest electoral victory for marijuana reform since 2012, when Colorado and Washington first approved the drug's recreational use. A Trump White House leaves a lot of uncertainty about the fate of marijuana measures in the next years. Under Obama, federal authorities took a hands-off approach to state-level legalization efforts. But an incoming administration more skeptical of drug reform could reverse that approach. (See also: Marijuana legalization - Big changes across country)