This past Election Day, voters in Michigan overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure allowing ill patients to be prescribed medical marijuana. It is the 14th state in the Union to approve such a measure. Massachusetts, meanwhile, voted to decriminalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. It is the 12th state to reduce potential punishments for small amounts of the drug.

The measure, Proposal 1, will remove state-level penalties for registered patients using marijuana. However, unlike in California, there will be no legal dispensaries for medical marijuana. In addition, under federal law, possession of marijuana for any purpose is still illegal.

Medical marijuana first became available in the United States ten years ago, when voters in Oregon approved a ballot measure. Legal use of the drug has been surrounded in controversy since then, with opponents trying to derail attempts to allow it. However, the only state that has failed to approve medical marijuana when it appeared on the ballot has been South Dakota.

In Michigan, more than two dozen medical, law-enforcement, anti-drug, and other organizations, including Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Kids, the Michigan State Medical Society, and Citizens for Traditional Values, opposed Proposal 1. However, it won in every county, with 63% of voters in support. Dianne Byrum, spokeswoman for the support group Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, told the Kalamazoo Gazette, “Voters knew right from the beginning the medical value of marijuana.”

In Massachusetts, the passage of Question 2, “not only authorizes the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana, but also establishes a parallel civil regulatory structure that does not currently exist,” Attorney General Martha Coakley told the Associated Press. However, possession of marijuana is still considered a crime.

Those caught with anywhere up to an ounce of marijuana will have it confiscated and be fined $100. Anyone under 18 will face a stiffer fine, up to $1,000, unless they complete a drug awareness program. In addition, all pending possession charges will be dropped. Before Question 2, possession was punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $500 fine.

Opponents argue that decriminalization will lead to higher drug use in young people. Proponents, on the other hand, say that taxpayers will be saved $30 million in costs associated with marijuana arrests.

Marijuana may not be legalized any time soon. In fact, it may be years before other states adopt measures allowing for medical marijuana, or decriminalizing small amounts of the drug. However, with voters in two states voting for such measures this election cycle, it may be within our lifetimes.

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