Four States Vote for Recreational Marijuana

Recreational marijuana was given the nod of approval in four states on Tuesday (November 8), further boosting hopes of legalizing it across the United States.
While cannabis is already legal in California, the golden state voted in favor of recreational use, along with Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine. This also makes Massachusetts’ the first state east of Mississippi to allow recreational use of marijuana.
California’s approval of cannabis legalization, according to the L.A. Times, makes it the United States’ biggest market for marijuana products.
Nate Bradley, executive director of the California Cannabis Industry, told the Times that they are “very excited” about California’s approval of Proposition 64.
“Proposition 64 will allow California to take its rightful place as the center of cannabis innovation, research and development,” he said.

To that end, the votes bring recreational cannabis usage legal to eight states: Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska have previously dropped their laws against pot.
Other states, such as Florida, North Dakota, and Arkansas voted on marijuana measures to expand conditions that can be treated with cannabis. This effectively pushes the number of states with these specific regulations over two dozen.
According to New Frontier Data, in partnership with Arcview Market Research, the legalization of marijuana in the above-mentioned states projects the cannabis market to rise above $20.9 billion by 2020.
“Recent polls have shown 60 percent of the public supports adult use legalization,” Giadha DeCarcer, founder and CEO of New Frontier said in the press release.  “The passage of California’s adult use measure and Florida’s medical initiative expand legal access into two of the country’s most populous states. Additionally, the passage of the measure in Massachusetts opens the first adult use market in the Northeast extending the reach of legal adult use access from coast to coast.”

Still–there is lots of uncertainty surrounding cannabis legalization under a Trump Justice Department.
Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, expressed concerns in a statement over Donald Trump as the next president
“His most likely appointees to senior law enforcement positions — Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie — are no friends of marijuana reform, nor is his vice president,” he continued.
While marijuana is legal across many states, it is still illegal for all uses under federal law. Back in 2013, the Obama administration put a policy in place for non-interference with state cannabis legalization.
Given that it’s early days yet, and as the country awaits Donald Trump to become president, the future is unclear as to what the laws will be on legalization of marijuana.

Cannabis stocks rising

On that note, cannabis stocks have been riding a high as a result of the election. Here’s a look at a few who have performed well following the votes to legalize marijuana.

• Marapharm Ventures (CNSX:MDM)(OTCMKTS:MRPHF): the Las Vegas-based company has increased 44.29 percent over a one-day period to reach $1.04;
• Pineapple Express (OTCMKTS:PNPL): up 35.71 percent to $4.75 over a one-day period;
• Finore Mining (CNSX:FIN) (OTCMKTS:FNREF): the company has seen a slight increase of 2.38 percent for a one-day period to $0.297.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Finore Mining is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid for content.