Up in smoke: pot fails in Ohio.

• Author: Slade, Stephanie
• Position: Citings - Marijuana - Brief article

ON NOVEMBER 3, Ohio voters rejected a ballot amendment that would have legalized the sale and use of marijuana and authorized its production at 10 commercial facilities in the state. A survey conducted by Bowling Green State University two weeks before the election had found the race "too close to call," with 44 percent supporting the measure and 43 percent opposing it. In fact, it lost by a 28-point margin--yet another failure by pollsters to correctly predict an electoral outcome.

Many legalization advocates opposed the Ohio amendment, thanks to the perception of cronyism around giving exclusive commercial growing rights to a small number of well-connected investors. Still, many activists wonder whether the defeat portends a shift in the national mood, which until then...