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Live Election Coverage

November 6, 2016

LIVE ELECTION COVERAGE

It’s the biggest election in the history of cannabis (see our Official 2016 Election Guide), with full legalization on the ballot in five states—California, Maine, Arizona, Nevada and Massachusetts—and medical marijuana before voters in Florida, North Dakota, Montana and Arkansas.

HIGH TIMES will update this page constantly with the latest news, updates and results, including frequent Facebook Live broadcasts on Election Day, from our weed-friendly headquarters in Los Angeles. David Bienenstock, our Head of Content, and the author of How To Smoke Pot (Properly) rolled nine victory joints in advance, and hopes to smoke them all live when each state legalizes. So check HIGH TIMES’ Facebook page to tune in and blaze along at home when we legalize it!

LIVE UPDATES

November 9 – 2:17AM Eastern

There will be no final decision on the Maine legalization measure tonight.

November 9 – 2:10AM Eastern

No final decision on the Arizona legalization vote tonight. The measure is behind, but votes from relatively liberal Tucson remain out. Full story here.

November 9 – 1:20AM Eastern

Final weed election results and victory joints w/ High Times and How to Smoke Pot (Properly) author David Bienenstock:

November 9 – 12:55AM Eastern

According to the Marijuana Majority, Nevada has just legalized marijuana!

!!!! Nevada voters just legalized marijuana! pic.twitter.com/Q5HOf5xyGc

— Marijuana Majority (@JoinTheMajority) November 9, 2016

November 8 – 11:40PM Eastern

Another victory! Massachusetts just became the first state on the East Coast to legalize marijuana!

November 8 – 11:20PM Eastern

Arkansas has approved medical marijuana!

November 8 – 11:20PM Eastern

And HIGH TIMES is live again on FB Live. Watch below.

November 8 – 11:15PM Eastern

According to the Marijuana Majority, California just passed legal marijuana!

WOW: California just legalized marijuana!!! Congress, can you hear us now? pic.twitter.com/vOmFWLPJI6

— Marijuana Majority (@JoinTheMajority) November 9, 2016

November 8 – 10:40PM Eastern

The Bismarck Tribune has just called it—Medical marijuana is coming to North Dakota! Voters approved the ballot measure!

November 8 – 8:30PM Eastern

HUGE WIN: Florida just became the 26th medical marijuana state with 71 percent approval!

November 8 – 7PM Eastern

We’re back on FB Live! Want to know the second weed gets legalized? HIGH TIMES is covering the election live, including victory joints rolled for all nine states voting on cannabis.

November 8 – 6:10PM Eastern

Think we’re the only ones optimistic about marijuana legalization?!? Think again. Marijuana stocks—or at least those considered by Wall Stee to be pot plays—rose Tuesday on optimism that referendums to legalize recreational pot in California and medical marijuana in Florida will be approved. Not to mention the seven other states with voting on similar measures. According to CNBC:

Shares of GW Pharmaceuticals, a developer of cannabis-based drugs, and Scotts Miracle-Gro, with its hydroponics businesses, rose about 1 percent each Tuesday. If referendums do pass, it will be bullish for Scotts Miracle-Gro, according to SunTrust Robinson Humphrey’s William Chappell. He wrote in a note to clients Thursday that “once recreational marijuana is legalized in a state, SMG has seen on average a 2x jump in its hydroponics business in that state.”

November 8 – 5:40PM Eastern

The first polls are set to close at 6PM EST in Indiana and Kentucky, and as our voting window begins to dwindle, the latest survey data is still looking good for marijuana legalization—especially in California and Florida where polling is the strongest. Data also indicates that Massachusetts should pass its initiative, while support for legalization hovers around 50 percent in Maine, Arizona and Nevada. As for the remaining three states with medical marijuana on the ballot, Arkansas’ most recent polls indicate 50 percent support by voters on Issue 6, Montana’s measure is currently favored by 44 percent of voters and there’s still no polling dat on North Dakota’s initiative.

BONUS: See exactly what time the polls close in your state, HERE.

November 8 – 4:20PM Eastern

Our Head of Content David Bienenstock was on FB Live to give the lowdown on all the legalization initiatives currently in front of voters! Check him out below and make sure to tune in at 7PM EST for his next live update.

November 8 – 4PM Eastern

Our allies at Students for Sensible Drug Policy can set you up to phone bank for legalization, calling other voters and reminding them to help free the weed today. Check it out and let’s #RollTheVote

https://twitter.com/SSDP/status/796089353672019968

November 8 – 3:15PM Eastern

The New York Times is calling this The Marijuana Election. They first endorsed cannabis legalization in 2014. We endorsed freeing the weed with our first issue in 1974. So stick with us for all your Election Day coverage. Including Facebook Live starting at 4PM Eastern today!

November 8 – 2:15PM Eastern

Around Noon, Amendment 2—the initiative to legalize medical marijuana in Florida—began trending on Twitter and has been going strong since with over 3,000 tweets, most of which seem to be in support of the initiaive. A similar amendment was proposed two years ago but fell just shy of passing; however, most state polls have support for Amendment 2 above the 60 percent threshold needed for approval. And if it Twitter is any indication, it looks like this time, medical marijuana should pass.

We are trending!!!

Keep going!!#YesOn2

Amendment 2 !!!#MedicalMarijuana pic.twitter.com/wJbOpW07NC

— Matt Morgan (@MattMorganESQ) November 8, 2016

November 8 – 12:20PM Eastern

As a reminder of what we’re voting for today, here’s a story about parents of child with brain cancer in Florida who were forced to become marijuana smugglers to save his life. This ends TODAY if we pass medical cannabis in FL. As the Tampa Bay Times reported:

When doctors said he was out of options, Kristen and Joe vowed to do anything, even split up their family, to give Tyler a chance with a treatment Florida doesn’t allow. That brought Kristen here, to the sloping road out of Colorado last summer, 2,000 miles from home — with vials of liquid medical marijuana buried in her mother’s suitcase…

November 8 – 11:25AM Eastern

Refresh this page frequently for the latest election updates, and check HIGH TIMES Facebook page starting at 4PM Eastern for our Live Broadcast from our cannabis-friendly headquarters in Los Angeles. We’re smoking a victory joint on camera each time a state votes to legalize!

I rolled 9 joints for #ElectionDay, 1 for each state voting to legalize weed. @HIGH_TIMES_Mag Live Election Coverage https://t.co/04W8AQpHBi pic.twitter.com/CVHaGBfmdm

— David Bienenstock (@pot_handbook) November 8, 2016

November 8 – 11:10AM Eastern

Polls are open and the biggest election in the history of cannabis has kicked off. Here at HIGH TIMES HQ in Los Angeles we’re starting the morning with weed, coffee, and a massive call to #RollToThePolls. Please contact your friends and family and encourage them to get out and vote for an end to pot prohibition and all the destruction it brings.

Last night, HIGH TIMES hosted a Legalization Rally featuring Tommy Chong and The Game:

Last nights rally at The Fonda in Los Angeles was a huge success for where we've come in legalization. Glad to play a part of it. pic.twitter.com/MUzH5OMN9r

— Tommy Chong (@tommychong) November 8, 2016

November 7 – 7:15PM Eastern

Voters in Denver have a chance to make cannabis history—again—tomorrow when deciding on a measure that will allow allow “most businesses [in the city] to establish certain designated areas or designated venues in which marijuana could be consumed.”

As Maureen Mehan writes in HIGH TIMES:

The fine print in the initiative requires a business to apply for a license from the city and get approval from at least one registered neighborhood organization. Smoking venues cannot be within 1,000 feet of places where “children congregate” and must still conform to the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act, meaning someone couldn’t just light up a joint inside, but could vape and consume edibles indoors.

November 7 – 5:39PM Eastern

The latest poll numbers show an incredibly close race in Arkansas, where Issue 6: The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment maintains a 49-47% lead, with 4% still undecided. Voter turn-out will be key to giving Arkansas citizens with a doctor’s recommendation legal access to cannabis at state-licensed dispensaries. So contact your friends and family in Arkansas and encourage them to vote for kindness, compassion and cannabis.

November 7 – 5:27PM Eastern

Legalization is looking good with the stoner-comedy star demographic.

I'm (obviously) voting YES on Prop 64 in CA because I support legal, recreational marijuana!!!!!!!

— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) November 7, 2016

November 7 – 4:30PM Eastern

Reformers in North Dakota hope a last-minute infusion of campaign cash from the Drug Policy Alliance can push their volunteer-led medical marijuana initiative to victory. As Amanda Crawford reported for HIGH TIMES:

Measure 5, the North Dakota Compassionate Care Act, marks the first time voters in that state will weigh in on the issue.“There are North Dakotans in pain with serious ailments and they think this can help,” said Ray Morgan, who is co-chairman of the campaign backing the measure. The act would allow patients suffering from cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other debilitating conditions to buy up to three ounces of marijuana from a non-profit compassion center regulated by the state. For patients who live more than 40 miles from a center, the patient or designated caregiver could grow up to eight plants in an enclosed and locked facility.

November 7 – 4:20PM Eastern

Polls show an incredibly close race in Arizona’s race to legalize cannabis for all adults. As Sam Harris-Brown reports for HIGH TIMES:

The most recent poll shows support for legalization has a lead of just one percentage point.
Those opposing legalization reported Friday that they’ve spent $4.9 million—$4 million of which went toward media purchases in October alone—and that they had $740,000 left to spend. During the same period, the campaign to legalize marijuana only spent $1.5 million on TV ads.

The imbalance between those big figures reflects the state of the campaigns in Arizona, with the opposition getting huge infusions of cash, late in the cycle. Some of the donors have questionable interests in marijuana remaining illegal, like prison contractors and opioid manufacturers.

November 7 – 3:45PM Eastern

Join HIGH TIMES for a Roll Up the Vote event featuring The Game, live tonight (Nov. 7) at the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles. Follow this link to get your free tickets and invite your friends.