More states are expected to legalize Marihuana this fall

As the U.S. House prepares to vote on marijuana legalization for the first time later this month, several states, with or without Congress, could legalize the drug this fall. Even if the House move is passed, we will have to wait and see if the Republican-controlled Senate will take up the bill. Five states are taking it into their own hands and could make it legal to buy marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes in November. In both New Jersey and Arizona, polls suggest voters will support selling marijuana for recreational purposes. South Dakota and Montana could also pass measures to legalize recreational marijuana this year, and voters in Mississippi will decide whether to legalize medical marijuana. "We are now working in very red states," said Matthew Schweich, deputy director of the pro-legalization advocate group Marijuana Policy Project. "If we win in Mississippi, Montana, and South Dakota ... it will be harder for these senators to oppose legislation that allows their home states to enforce laws approved by voters. "Every victory at the level of the federal states makes the federal-state conflict even more untenable than it already is," said Schweich. John Hudak of the Brookings Institution remarked, "This is just mainstream public policy. Just as states vote on tax policy and a variety of other issues, this is quickly becoming another standard public policy issue.