STARKVILLE —

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the shadow of legal marijuana is growing in the U.S. Based on the inability to generate sufficient ballot initiative signatures, it appears unlikely Mississippi will join that movement any time soon and certainly not by virtue of the 2016 election.

But electorates in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia have legalized small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, some 21 states had legislation introduced in 2015 that would in some way allow or advance policy for adult recreational use of marijuana, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

One Georgia bill proposes a constitutional amendment on marijuana legalization for adult use. Legalization bills have failed in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia. Legislative proposals for an initiative petition or constitutional amendment have...