Recreational Legalization

Colorado and Washington set the stage for state based recreational legalization campaigns, with Amendment 64 in Colorado and Initiative 502 in Washington.  Across the nation, this built the excitement that the Drug War and prohibition of cannabis was coming to an end.

“We want to highlight something important here – Voter turnout in Colorado changed dramatically between 2008 and 2012. In 2008, self-described liberals composed 17 percent of the electorate and that exploded to 28 percent in 2012. With marijuana legalization on the ballot in the Rocky Mountain State, more young people turned out, too. In 2008, 18-29 year olds made up 14 percent of the electorate, that increased to 20 percent in 2012. The changes were even more significant among 18-24 year olds. With legalization on the ballot, they made up 12 percent of the electorate compared to just 5 percent four years prior.” – Brookings

Recreational legalization brought new voters to the political equation as well as increasing the youth vote.  This is a very important consideration to understand because it indicates that previously uninterested voting citizens activated simply because the issue was so important to them.

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/01/colorado-pot-shops/4275267/

https://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/legal-recreational-pot-industry-opens-in-colorado-101660