A potential sea change in marijuana legislation is coming, with ballot measures in several states giving voters the opportunity to make it legal for adults.

Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada will vote on legalizing recreational marijuana, while Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota are considering medical marijuana initiatives.

In the next part of 13 Action News series of reports on marijuana, what sorts of people does recreational marijuana attract to Colorado or potentially Nevada?

More police are patrolling in Denver and private security guards were hired with the influx of tourists visiting Colorado after the state legalized recreational marijuana.

Attorney Rachel O'Bryan cites a report from Denver's Downtown Convention and Visitors Bureau indicating marijuana consumption, panhandling and safety concerns are the top complaints from meeting planners across the country.

But on the plus side, pot tourists are helping the marijuana business surge.

Nevada already has legal brothels, round-the-clock casinos and a coy catchphrase declaring that “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” If voters approve, the state could soon add another vice in the form of recreational marijuana.

A proposal on the Nov. 8 state ballot would legalize pot, and entrepreneurs hope its passage could someday allow the drug at Las Vegas’ glamorous nightclubs and perhaps provide the framework for a future Amsterdam-style cannabis district.

The marijuana industry could quadruple in size after the 2016 elections, according to a new study released Wednesday.

The Los Angeles-based cannabis firm MedMen projects legal pot sales in the U.S. could increase by $20.5 billion per year after voters in nine states weigh ballot measures that would legalize recreational marijuana.

"The potential of this industry is undeniable," MedMen CEO Adam Bierman said. "The question is how we make sure it is done in a safe, responsible and controlled manner."

The recreational use of marijuana has already been legalized in Colorado, Washington state, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C., and another 21 states permit medical marijuana.

Sheldon Adelson, the politically influential billionaire and Donald Trump supporter, is bankrolling the fight against marijuana legalization measures on several state ballots this year. Meanwhile, Adelson the philanthropist gave money to research that supports the medical use of marijuana.

With pot on the ballot in nine states, the big winner in next Tuesday's election could be America's legal cannabis industry. By 2020, legal market sales are expected to surpass $22 billion. And for states struggling with budget shortfalls, that extra revenue would be clearly welcome. 

Voters in five states — Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada — will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. Medical marijuana is on the ballot in Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota. 

Supporters believe the marijuana measures will pass in California and Florida, and possibly several other states, because America's attitude about pot has changed significantly in the last few years. 

Nearly 60 million Americans may wake up Nov. 9 to find voters in their states have abolished long-standing marijuana prohibitions, a three-fold expansion for legal cannabis across the country.

Another 24 million Americans could find themselves in states with newly legal medical marijuana use, a smaller but still significant expansion of legalized pot around the United States. Already, half of the states permit some form of medical marijuana use, and more than half of all Americans live in a state that has approved medical marijuana.

The movement to legalize marijuana, the country’s most popular illicit drug, will take a giant leap on Election Day if California and four other states vote to allow recreational cannabis, as polls suggest they may.    – “Election May Be a Turning Point for Legal Marijuana,” The New York Times, Oct 24, 2016

With five states voting on marijuana legalization next month, this is a pivotal year for marijuana policy no matter which way the contests turn out. The results will determine whether marijuana reform gains momentum heading into the next presidential administration or whether the pace of change will slow.

Even by the usual standards of politics, this election’s campaign against marijuana legalization has made strange bedfellows. The largest donors to the various anti-weed political groups around the country include a billionaire casino tycoon, a woman who believes in reefer madness, a drug-crusading former U.S. ambassador, cops, prison guards, booze merchants, and a pharma company that sells the powerful painkiller fentanyl.