"These results once again illustrate that support for legalization extends across geographic and demographic lines,"
says Eric Altieri, director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "The success of these initiatives proves definitively that marijuana legalization is not exclusively a 'blue' state issue, but an issue that is supported by a majority of all Americans—regardless of party politics."
The South Dakota results were not the only first yesterday. By a
margin of more than 3 to 1, voters in Washington, D.C.,
approved quasi-decriminalization of "entheogenic plants and fungi." That
initiative, which says suppressing the use of such substances should be "among the lowest law enforcement priorities for the District of Columbia," goes further than similar measures enacted recently in
Denver,
Ann Arbor,
Oakland, and
Santa Cruz, since it applies to noncommercial production and distribution as well as possession and covers ibogaine, dimethyltryptamine, and mescaline in addition to psilocybin and psilocin (although it does not include a prohibition on the use of public funds to pursue such cases).
Oregon, meanwhile, became the first jurisdiction in the United States to
legalize psilocybin and the first to
decriminalize possession of all drugs.
reason.com
