NEW YORK (AP) — Supporters of legalized marijuana use are celebrating a couple of victories on Election Day.
Voters in Oregon and the District of Columbia approved ballot measures allowing the use of marijuana by adults.
Oregon will join Colorado and Washington state, where voters approved the recreational use of pot two years ago. And the District of Columbia is on the same path, unless Congress blocks the move.
Alaska also had a marijuana legalization measure on its ballot.
In Washington state, voters who were faced with two competing measures on gun sales approved an expansion of background checks.
In Colorado and North Dakota, voters rejected measures that opponents feared could lead to bans on abortion. The Colorado proposal would have added “unborn human beings” to the state’s criminal code. But Tennessee voters approved a measure that will give state lawmakers more power to regulate abortion.
Voters in Arkansas and Nebraska approved increases in their states’ minimum wages. In Arkansas, it will rise from $6.25 an hour to $8.50 by 2017, in Nebraska it will go from $7.25 to $9.
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