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jct74
06-09-2016, 09:21 AM
Up to 12 States Could Vote on Marijuana This November -- Here They Are
Will residents in your state vote on a marijuana initiative in the upcoming election?

Sean Williams
Jun 5, 2016

Marijuana legalization has been growing like a weed for the past two decades, but 2016 could prove to be its most monumental year yet. Although marijuana has gained 24 state approvals for medicinal use, and four states have legalized its recreational use, we could see up to 12 separate approvals for the currently illicit drug in November.

This expansion is especially important because current President Barack Obama has suggested that the best way to get the attention of Congress is to continue legalizing the drug at the state level. Doing so would eventually force lawmakers to reconsider the federal government's current Schedule 1 stance on the drug.

In total, voters in three states are guaranteed to vote on marijuana this November. Of the remaining nine states, one is a seeming lock to get a marijuana initiative on the ballot, while the remaining eight are still in the process of collecting signatures.

Three states guaranteed to vote on marijuana in November

1. Nevada
Heading into 2016, there was only state guaranteed to vote on marijuana this year, and that was Nevada. Nevada's recreational-marijuana initiative, known as Question 2, was approved for the ballot in November 2015, and it aims to make the drug legal for adults aged 21 and up. If it's approved, an excise tax of 15% would be enacted to support the state's K-12 education budget.

2. Florida
Florida's medical-marijuana initiative, known as Amendment 2, or the Florida Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative, wound up collecting nearly 693,000 signatures by late January, working its way onto the ballot once again. Medical marijuana use under the law would be limited to "debilitating" medical conditions as defined by a physician. This year's effort follows the narrow defeat of a similar medical-marijuana initiative in 2014 that saw the "yes" votes fall 2.4% short of the 60% required to pass.

3. Maine
Roughly a month ago, Maine also announced that enough signatures had been gathered to get a recreational-marijuana initiative on the ballot this November. If the initiative -- known as the Marijuana Legalization Act -- is approved, then a state excise tax of 10% would be imposed on recreational marijuana sales, and licenses within the state could be limited.

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read more:
http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/05/up-to-12-states-could-vote-on-marijuana-this-novem.aspx

jct74
06-09-2016, 09:26 AM
update on Michigan effort, result will be determined by outcome of lawsuit



Marijuana petitioners fall short; 180-day policy now law

Bill Laitner
June 7, 2016

A ballot drive to legalize marijuana in Michigan is sputtering.

The Bureau of Elections in Lansing announced today that the statewide petition campaign fell at least 106,000 signatures short to get on November ballots.

That word came less than a week after the MILegalize group turned in a truckload of petitions and its leaders claimed they had more than enough signatures.

On Thursday, the State Board of Canvassers is expected to approve the bureau's advice by voting to keep the group’s marijuana measure off fall ballots. But MILegalize, which backed a plan to tax and regulate marijuana much like alcohol, isn’t giving up.

“This was expected — we will prevail,” said Jeff Hank, a Lansing lawyer who chaired the group.

“We expect the Board of Canvassers to continue to engage in poor government and to follow the staff recommendation (on Thursday), and we will file a lawsuit very shortly after that,” Hank said. The lawsuit would challenge the state's move to disallow more than 137,000 MILegalize signatures that weren't gathered within 180 days of last week's June 1 deadline.

Overall, it would challenge whether the "180-day window” cited by state election officials is a valid limit for petition campaigns, Hank said. That so-called window was not a part of state law until today, when Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill that codified what had been merely a 1986 policy of the State Board of Canvassers.

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read more:
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/06/07/marijuana-legalization-michigan-constitutional-rick-snyder-devos-amway-milegalize-fracking/85560272/