At the tail end of 2014, Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller certified that the recreational marijuana initiative received the necessary signatures to place it on the November 2016 ballot. Pictured: Retail marijuana products available for purchase at Sunrise Solutions on March 26, 2014, in Bailey, Colorado. (Anya Semenoff, The Denver Post)

Nevada recreational marijuana vote 2016: Voters say yes to Question 2, legal cannabis


Election 2016: Get updates on the nine states with marijuana ballot measures


LAS VEGAS — Nevadans have voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Passage of Ballot Question 2 means Nevadans can possess up to an ounce of pot beginning Jan. 1. A 15 percent excise tax will be levied on the sales, with revenue going to regulate the substance and support education.

Local governments will be allowed to make rules on where marijuana businesses can be located, but won’t be allowed to impose blanket bans on the substance.

Nevada voters legalized medical marijuana on the ballot in 2000, but it wasn’t until 2013 that the state Legislature passed a law allowing for dispensaries.

Under the new law, only business that have medical pot certificates will be allowed to apply for recreational licenses for the first 18 months.

Legalization advocates celebrated the win in Nevada late Tuesday.

“It’s great to see that the power and money of Sheldon Adelson were not sufficient to dissuade Nevadans from doing the right thing,” Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement.