While most of the attention of this week’s election focused on the Presidential race, the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington state and the approval of same-sex marriage in Maine and Maryland will have a more profound and longer term effect on state and Federal laws—and probably on everyday life, as well.
same-sex marriage vote Nov 6, 2012 in Washington, Minnesota, Maryland and Maine (By CentrumZero (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
As Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said: “This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through.”
It is also clear that despite the recent passage of state constitutional amendments prohibiting gay marriage, its approval by popular vote yesterday (and by court order and legislation in other states previously), will force the legislatures of all states to address same-sex marriage issues—or the courts will address it for them.
