Sacramento/Los Angeles — A ballot measure to make recreational marijuana legal for adults was approved in California, opening the most populous US state to a burgeoning commercial cannabis market, in a major victory for supporters of liberalized drug laws. Proposition 64 passed easily as statewide returns from the election showed nearly 56% of voters favouring the measure and 44% opposed, according to results on Wednesday morning reported from more than 90% maof precincts. California was by far the largest of five states with ballot measures seeking to legalise the use of marijuana for the sheer pleasure of its intoxicating effects, and approval there extends legalisation to the entire US Pacific Coast. Recreational marijuana was first approved in 2012 by Washington state and Colorado, and later by voters in Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia. Victory also was declared on Tuesday by supporters of a similar measure in Massachusetts, giving legalised recreational marijuana it...
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