"We’ve waged a war against this plant for a century and by any reasonable metric, that war has been an abject failure. All it’s done is incarcerate millions of Americans, it has perpetuated racism in this country, and perhaps the worst injustice of all is that it’s deprived us of medical marijuana research," said Matthew Schweich, MPP's deputy director.

"If we 'legalize' but still put more or less the same people in jail for cannabis-related activity, we haven't really achieved our goal of ending prohibition," said Chris Lindsey, MPP's director of government relations.

"The message that has resonated with voters in all five states was the fact that marijuana legalization is a proven policy and worked successfully in other states. Eleven states had legalized marijuana in the lead up to Election Day, and none of those states have repealed legalization," said Matthew Schweich, MPP's deputy director.

Even the Tennessean admits that cannabis is winning across the country—but still losing in Tennessee. According to the Marijuana Policy Project, Tennessee’s fatal flaw is the fact that the state doesn’t have a voter initiative process. Instead, elected officials are the ones that get to decide whether or not a law is changed.

"I suspect that the Biden Administration will certainly not be seeking to spend any law enforcement resources in terms of going after any businesses in any state for medical or adult use ... I think that the federal-state tension that's been there will start to dissipate," said Steve Hawkins, MPP's executive director.

“Losing Cory Gardner is a huge loss. Cory Gardner was the biggest [cannabis] cheerleader in the Senate,” said Don Murphy, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Now [cannabis advocates] don’t have anyone in the majority party in those luncheons and in those caucus meetings standing up and pushing back on people who stand up and say legalization is horrible … There’s no one to defend against it.”

"President-elect Biden has both the opportunity and responsibility to call upon lawmakers to advance comprehensive legislation to reform our country’s failed marijuana policies. While Americans are divided among many issues, legalization is one issue that brings people across the country together. Voters in red states and blue states alike have shown that they support legalization and it’s time for the president and Congress to take real action," said Steve Hawkins, MPP's executive director.

"We are thrilled with such a big night for cannabis legalization! What’s most thrilling is that it really shows that the support for cannabis legalization is widespread in the American public. We expect more states will follow," said Steve Hawkins, MPP's executive director.

"I think that a President Biden will be hearing from people of his own cabinet [and] from constituents on the examination of where public attitudes are now, where 67% of the American people—two-thirds—believe that cannabis should be legalized," said Steve Hawkins, MPP's executive director.

"Voters in five very different states have all sent the same message—the time has come for marijuana reform," tweeted the Marijuana Policy Project.