Is Montana Going to Pot?

"The essence of what's happening is that people are getting educated," Downing said. "People are learning. The rest of the nation is finding out that they have been lied to about cannabis by their government for many decades."

This week, Colorado became the first state to sell marijuana for recreational use. Hundreds of buyers waited in line for hours to be a part of opening-day history. Sales were brisk.

Now, Colorado's historic legalization policy is being touted as a springboard for the other states.

In 2012, Colorado voters approved the sale of recreational marijuana, as did voters in Washington state. But Colorado is the first to have the pot shops up and running under regulations recently established by state and local governments. Colorado voters' approval in effect amended the state's constitution to allow for the retail sale of recreational pot. The state already allowed medical marijuana.

The entire state is not implementing the law, however. A community can decide not to allow the shops, and in fact, most areas of the state have not, including communities such as Greeley and Colorado Springs.

In November, Portland, Maine, followed Washington and Colorado's lead and legalized recreational use of the drug, while the Michigan cities of Lansing, Jackson and Ferndale resoundingly voted to let people older than 21 possess an ounce of marijuana on private property.

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