Voters on Tuesday approved the legalization of recreational marijuana in Maryland and Missouri while rejecting similar measures in Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Meanwhile, voters in five Texas cities passed ballot measures that bar local police from issuing citations or making arrests for low-level marijuana possession. But the most striking election result for drug policy reformers looking beyond the ongoing collapse of marijuana prohibition happened in Colorado, where a broad psychedelic decriminalization measure is winning by two points with 80 percent of votes counted.

Prior to yesterday's elections, 37 states had approved marijuana for medical purposes, and 19 of them also had legalized recreational use. The Maryland and Missouri results raise the latter number to 21.

The outcome in Maryland, a blue state where surveys indicated strong support for marijuana legalization, was widely expected. But the margin of victory is still impressive: Nearly two-thirds of voters approved a measure that legalizes possession and home cultivation for adults 21 or older while instructing the state legislature to authorize commercial production and distribution. The outcome in Missouri, a red state where support for legalization fell short of a majority in most pre-election polls, was more surprising: Although the initiative was controversial even among reformers, it won by about six points.