Will Nevada Be The Next State To Legalize Marijuana ?

(This image of marijuana is from shoutout.com.)

There are now four state (Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska) and the District of Columbia that have legalized the possession and use of marijuana for adults and taxed its sale (although the Republican Congress could still nullify the vote in D.C.). And since several polls have shown a majority of Americans favor marijuana legalization, the only question seems to be which state will be the next to do it.

That state could well be Nevada. There has been an effort in that state to get a minimum of 101,667 valid signatures to force the state to act on marijuana legalization. On Wednesday, that effort submitted petitions bearing over 145,000 signatures -- and those are just from Clark County (Las Vegas). The petitions from Washoe County (Reno) and rural Nevada are yet to be turned in, but will assuredly boost that total by quite a bit.

This means there will undoubtably be enough signatures, and that the legislature will have to take up the issue of legalization -- perhaps as early as next Spring. Since the measure involves taxing marijuana, it will require a two-thirds majority of both legislative bodies (and the governor's signature). That may be difficult to accomplish, even though the petition effort is a bipartisan one.

The good news though is that failure by the legislature to pass the measure does not kill it -- but just means it will be presented to the voters of Nevada on the 2016 ballot (where it would have a much better chance of being passed).

Will Nevada be the next state to legalize marijuana, or will another state beat them to the punch? We'll have to wait and see. But the die has been cast, and soon, other states will follow the current four.