Amendment Sixty-Four

On November sixth of two thousand and twelve, Colorado voters approved Amendment Sixty-Four, which added a section to the state constitution legalizing the personal use and regulation of marijuana for adults twenty-one and older. Colorado passed it alongside Washington state, making the two the first jurisdictions in the world to legalize recreational cannabis through a popular vote. The margin in Colorado was about fifty-five percent in favor.

Possession and home cultivation became legal that December after Governor Hickenlooper signed the amendment into the constitution. Commercial retail sales launched on January first of two thousand and fourteen, with lines wrapping around dispensaries in Denver and across the state. In the first full calendar year the state collected roughly forty-four million dollars in recreational marijuana taxes, and the haul grew sharply the following year.

The law set possession limits at one ounce for adults, allowed home cultivation of a limited number of plants in a locked space, and built a regulatory framework modeled on alcohol. Whatever one thinks of the policy, the changes were fast and far-reaching: a new industry emerged, tourism shifted, and Colorado's unconventional national reputation took on yet another dimension.