State Votes on Recreational Marijuana Could Raise Stronger Challenge to Federal Ban

Five states will vote next month whether to legalize recreational marijuana. If the states vote to legalize the drug, the federal government’s ban on marijuana will face a stronger challenge, The New York Times reports.

California, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona and Nevada will be voting on legalization initiatives. Recreational marijuana is already legal in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

In August, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that it would not reclassify marijuana as a drug with accepted medical uses. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

A recent report estimated that if California legalizes recreational marijuana, the nation’s current $6 billion legal marijuana industry would triple in size.