Michigan on Tuesday became the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana, and Utah and Missouri voted to legalize medical marijuana.
Four states voted on marijuana-legalization measures in Tuesday’s midterm elections. An initiative in North Dakota failed.
Marijuana legalization is sweeping the US. In June, Oklahoma voted to legalize medical marijuana, joining numerous other states that have such laws on the books.
In January, Vermont became the first state to legalize marijuana through its Legislature rather than a ballot initiative when the governor signed the bill into law.
Ten states and Washington, DC, have legalized marijuana for recreational use for adults over 21. And 33 states have legalized medical marijuana.
Marijuana prohibition began 80 years ago when the federal government banned the sale, cultivation, and use of the cannabis plant. It remains illegal at the federal level.
Overturning prohibition is one of the few hot-button topics with widespread support.
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that 62% of Americans, including 74% of millennials, said they supported legalizing marijuana.
And 2018 has been a banner year for marijuana legalization in North America.
In October Canada legalized marijuana federally, becoming the first G7 country to do so.
Mexico’s Supreme Court also ruled last month that marijuana prohibition is unconstitutional, paving the way for the country’s new leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to follow Canada’s lead.
Originally posted on Business Insider.
Melia Robinson contributed to an earlier version of this post.