Voters in Maryland voted on whether recreational marijuana use should be legal for adults.
Question 4 asked voters: “Do you favor the legalization of the use of cannabis by an individual who is at least 21 years of age on or after July 1, 2023, in the State of Maryland?”
If passed, adults 21 and older will be able to possess up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana once the measure goes into effect next summer. People caught with larger amounts could face civil fines.
Maryland has already legalized medical marijuana and decriminalized small amounts in the past. The state legalized medicinal marijuana in 2013. A year later, it decriminalized possession of 10 grams or less of cannabis.
If voters OK this measure, Maryland would join 19 other states and the District of Columbia that have already legalized the recreational use of marijuana. It is still under federal prohibition.
The question also comes with a companion bill that will respond directly to people who have been found guilty of possession of marijuana in the past.
Question 4 only asked if Marylanders are OK with legalizing marijuana. Taxation, distribution and marketing of the plant would then need to handled by the legislature. That process has already started in work groups. They hope to have most of that framework ready by spring.
Marylanders weren’t the only Americans making this decision Tuesday. Marijuana legalization proposals also were on the ballots in Arkansas, Missouri, North…