RACE FOR REFORM LEGALIZATION IN VOTERS' HANDS V oters will decide whether to legalize commercial sales of adult-use marijuana in as many as five states during the November midterm elections. State lawmakers in Maryland referred a recreational marijuana legalization referendum to voters, who will decide the issue on the Nov. 8 ballot. Secretaries of state in Missouri and North Dakota certified that enough valid signatures had been collected to place adult-use legalization initiatives on their state ballots. In Arkansas, the state Supreme Court gave conditional approval for residents 38 October 2022 | MJBizMagazine " None of these campaigns should ever take anything for granted, but I believe public opinion is on the side of all of these cannabisreform measures. " - Matt Schweich, Marijuana Policy Project to vote on a constitutional amendment this fall that would allow adult-use sales. But it's possible the votes won't be By Jeff Smith Several states will decide whether to regulate adult-use marijuana in November counted, depending on the outcome of a pending legal challenge involving the ballot title. The matter was unresolved as this magazine went to print. In Oklahoma, an adult-use marijuana petition calling for a commercial market secured enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, but the measure still faced procedural hurdles at press time. WHERE CANNABIS IS LEGAL Ballot referendum efforts this year have mainly focused on recreational marijuana, given that most states already have legalized medical cannabis.