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Psychology in the news

Experience Biological Rhythms: The Tides of

Tides of Experience

The Nature of Hypnosis

Exploring the Dream World

Theories of Hypnosis

Consciousness-Altering Drugs

Classifying Drugs

Psychology in the News,

Revisited

Taking Psychology With

You: How to Get a Good

Night’s Sleep

5

Colorado and Washington Legalize

Recreational Marijuana

DENVER, November 7, 2012. Last night, Washington and Colo-

rado voters made their states the first to legalize the recre-

ational use of marijuana.

In Colorado, where the state constitution was amended

to permit limited use, the tally was 54 percent in favor ver-

sus 46 percent against. “The voters have spoken and we

have to respect their will,” said Governor Hickenlooper, who

opposed the amendment. But he added that federal law still

bans the drug, “so don’t break out the Cheetos or Goldfish

too quickly.”

In Washington, the vote to legalize small amounts of the

drug for people older than 21 and to tax it heavily passed

by a similar margin. In contrast, a measure in Oregon went

down to defeat, with 55 percent of voters opposed.

Elsewhere, voting on the use of marijuana for medical

purposes was mixed. Massachusetts became the 18th state

to legalize such use, joining 17 other states and the District

of Columbia. But in Arkansas, a measure allowing use for

relief of pain by cancer and other patients went down to

defeat.

The 50 states currently have a patchwork of laws

governing the cultivation, sale, and use of marijuana. As

Hickenlooper noted, states that have liberalized their laws

are in conflict with federal law, which categorizes the drug as

a Schedule 1 controlled substance.

Those states and local jurisdictions that have legal-

ized or decriminalized marijuana are struggling with how to

regulate it. In California, the use of less than an ounce for

medical purposes has been legal since 1996, and in 2011,

a new law changed possession of less than an ounce from

a criminal misdemeanor to a civil infraction—like getting a

parking ticket. But although some California cities permit

pot clubs, others either limit their numbers or prohibit them

outright.

Body Rhythms

and mental states

Supporters of a constitutional amendment to allow private recreational use

of marijuana in Colorado celebrated news of its passage at a gathering in a

Denver bar.