Arizona Proposition 207 outcomes: Marijuana legalization authorized

Arizona has voted to legalize marijuana.

Arizona’s Proposition 207 — which voters authorized on Election Day, based on the New York Occasions and the Related Press — legalizes marijuana possession and use for adults 21 or older, and permits people to develop as much as six hashish crops. It costs the Arizona Division of Well being Providers with licensing and regulating marijuana companies, from retailers to growers, and imposes a 16 % tax on gross sales. Native governments can ban marijuana companies inside their borders, nevertheless. It additionally lets individuals with marijuana-related prison data petition for expungement.

Arizona already allowed marijuana for medical functions. The brand new legislation expands legalization to leisure and different non-medical makes use of.

Marijuana stays unlawful below federal legislation. However beginning with President Barack Obama’s administration, the federal authorities has usually allowed states to legalize hashish with minimal federal interference.

Earlier than Election Day, 11 states and Washington, DC, had legalized marijuana, though DC doesn’t permit leisure gross sales. Change has moved shortly throughout the US: A decade in the past, zero states allowed marijuana for leisure functions. Right here’s what the map appeared like earlier than Election Day:

Supporters of legalization argue that it eliminates the harms of marijuana prohibition: the a whole bunch of 1000’s of arrests across the US, the racial disparities behind these arrests, and the billions of {dollars} that move from the black marketplace for illicit marijuana to drug cartels that then use the cash for violent operations all over the world. All of this, legalization advocates say, will outweigh any of the potential downsides — akin to elevated hashish use — that may include legalization.

Opponents, in the meantime, declare that legalization will create an enormous marijuana trade that can market the drug irresponsibly. They level to America’s experiences with the alcohol and tobacco industries particularly, which have constructed their monetary empires largely on the backs of the heaviest customers of their merchandise. They usually argue ending prohibition might lead to way more individuals utilizing pot, probably resulting in unexpected detrimental well being penalties.

In Arizona, voters have sided with legalization supporters.

For extra on the talk over marijuana legalization, learn Vox’s explainer.