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Marijuana Legalization Was Facebook’s Most-Discussed Topic on Election Day

On Election Day, with hotly contested House, Senate, and Gubernatorial races happening all over the country, social media chatter was turned up to 11. According to Facebook, Tuesday’s midterm el...
Marijuana Legalization Was Facebook’s Most-Discussed Topic on Election Day
Written by Josh Wolford
  • On Election Day, with hotly contested House, Senate, and Gubernatorial races happening all over the country, social media chatter was turned up to 11. According to Facebook, Tuesday’s midterm elections saw 85 million interactions (posts, likes, and comments) from 27 million people. Some of that conversation can be attributed to Facebook’s “I’m a Voter” prompt that had people sharing their voting status with their friends – but even with that, the amount of organic discussion is impressive.

    Facebook says that some of the most talked-about topics of the day were taxes, Obamacare, education, and voter fraud – all of which make sense considering that they were made integral parts of various campaigns (especially the first two).

    But in terms of top conversations, the aforementioned topics are numbers two through five. The big winner of the day, in terms of total buzz, was pot.

    Facebook says that marijuana was the most talked-about topic throughout the entirety of Election Day.

    Pot was indeed on the ballot – and in a big way. Statewide ballot measures in four areas – Alaska, Florida, Oregon, and Washington DC – dominated the conversation all day.

    Proponent of marijuana legalization had a pretty solid day, scoring victories in three of the four major battles.

    In Alaska Ballot Measure 2, an initiative to legalize and regulate marijuana for those 21 and older passed with 52 percent of the vote. In Oregon Measure 91, a similar measure, won big – 55 percent to 45 percent.

    And in our nation’s capital a legalization initiative sponsored by the DC Cannabis Campaign won huge, with a final tally of 65 percent to 28 percent in favor.

    “The people of the District of Columbia have voted in favor of ending racially biased marijuana prohibition,” said Dr. Malik Burnett, the Vice Chair of the DC Cannabis Campaign. “The harms caused by the war on drugs are not fixed with this vote alone; the real healing begins when the DC Council develops a tax-and-regulate system based on racial and social justice.”

    The only loss on the day was in Florida, where a constitutional amendment to allow medical marijuana failed with 58 percent of the vote. In Florida, amendments put to the ballot require 60 percent to succeed.

    Political races be damned – election Tuesday was marijuana’s day … at least on Facebook.

    Image via DCMJ, Facebook

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