Voters on Tuesday approved Proposition 64, making California the most populous state in the nation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

The approval of the ballot measure creates the largest market for marijuana products in the U.S. It comes six years after California voters narrowly rejected a similar measure. Activists said passage would be an important moment in a fight for marijuana legalization across the U.S.

“We are very excited that citizens of California voted to end the failed policy of marijuana prohibition," said Nate Bradley, executive director of the California Cannabis Industry Assn. "Proposition 64 will allow California to take its rightful place as the center of cannabis innovation, research and development.” 

Nevadans voted Tuesday to legalize recreational marijuana for adults ages 21 and over. The passing of Question 2, by a margin of six points according to early polling results, allows for the legal purchase of up to 1 ounce of marijuana or up to one-eighth ounce of marijuana concentrates such as wax, carbon dioxide oil and shatter.

Under the law, recreational users will also be allowed to buy marijuana paraphernalia such as bongs and glass pipes. Those living outside a 25-mile radius of the closest Nevada marijuana dispensary will be permitted to cultivate up to six marijuana plants at home for personal use, as long as it’s away from public view.

Massachusetts has joined a handful of states in allowing recreational marijuana.

As of Dec. 15, it will be legal for adults, age 21 and older, to grow and use marijuana at home. And weed could be for sale in stores by Jan. 1, 2018, now that voters have approved a ballot question making cannabis legal for recreational use.

With 65 percent of precincts reporting, the Question 4 vote was 53 percent in favor and 47 percent opposed.

The landmark change will be managed by a new three-member Cannabis Control Commission, to be appointed by state Treasurer Deb Goldberg. A 15-member advisory board appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker will make recommendations about the best ways to regulate legal marijuana.

It was a big night for the marijuana legalization movement around the country, with 3 of 5 states, including Massachusetts, approving ballot measures and Maine poised to follow suit.

The vote remained extremely close all night, but at about 3 a.m., supporters of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol declared victory.

The Yes on One campaign held an edge of between one and two percentage points all night long. And in the wee hours of the morning, with a few more precincts still to be counted, political director Alysia Melnick offered this assessment.

Nearly a quarter of Americans will live in areas where recreational marijuana use is legal if voters approve initiatives on Tuesday permitting the recreational use of cannabis in California, Massachusetts and three other states.

With pot already legal for use by adults in four states and the District of Columbia, a win for legalized marijuana in California alone would make the entire West Coast a cannabis-friendly zone, completing a geographical march begun in Washington state and Oregon.

Potential victories in Arizona, Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine would fill in much of the rest of the West and extend recreational use to the Northeast. Opinion polls show voters favoring the initiative in all five states.

In a last ditch effort to support or fight against Arizona’s upcoming cannabis ballot initiative, both sides are dumping a lot of cash into certain states.

A Nova Scotia-based education campaign is trying to dispel common misconceptions about cannabis by asking teens if the physical and psychological risks of marijuana use are more than just “a bad trip.”

Mental health advocates launched the awareness effort Monday with a series of striking advertisements to be plastered in bus shelters across Halifax, as well as social media content to reach their 16 to 20-year-old target demographic.

Dr. Philip Tibbo, director of the Nova Scotia Early Psychosis Program at Dalhousie University, says the campaign was developed in partnership with the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia to tackle to pervasive myths about marijuana – that it’s safe to drive while high, and that weed is safer than tobacco or alcohol.

The results of today's marijuana legalization ballot initiatives will set the stage for the next four years of American drug policy. If California and a number of other states legalize the recreational use of the drug, many observers, including President Obama, say that a strict federal pot prohibition could soon become untenable.

California’s lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom says that if Proposition 64 passes — which would legalize recreational marijuana use — it would be a “game changer” across the country.

With the fate of legalized marijuana in doubt, supporters and foes of Proposition 205 are amassing cash for a last-minute blitz to convince voters.

A new poll of 550 Arizonans conducted this past Tuesday and Wednesday finds the ballot measure leading -- but only slightly.

Of those questioned, 48 percent said they are likely to support the initiative, with 47 percent opposed and the balance undecided. Pollster George Khalaf who conducted the survey for Data Orbital, a Phoenix based consulting firm, said that difference is statistically insignificant, being well within the 4.1 percentage point margin of error.

With victory on the issue clearly within the grasp of either side, both are raising lots of last-minute cash to close the deal.