"It's really showing the kind of breadth of acceptance that we're seeing around the country with respect to cannabis," said Steven Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group that works with many of the ballot initiatives.

"The mass incarceration system in the United States was designed to suck people in, not to let them out. That’s the huge tragedy," said Steve Hawkins, MPP's executive director.

"There’s going to be a very strong push for federal reform regardless of what happens with the ballot initiatives, or the presidency, or the Senate, or the House. We have an absurd situation where we have this glaring conflict between state and federal law, and it gets increasingly untenable every year," said Matthew Schweich, MPP's deputy director.

"There is clearly a tide. We are moving toward a critical mass of states that ... will bring about the end of federal prohibition on cannabis," said Steve Hawkins, MPP's executive director.

"Change doesn’t come from Washington, but to Washington. States are sending a clear message to the federal government that their constituencies want to see cannabis legalization," said Steve Hawkins, MPP's executive director.

"It’s becoming normalized for people. People know that other states are legalizing it and the sky has not fallen," said Matthew Schweich, MPP's deputy director.

"Most lawmakers are going to respond for their constituents. That’s why the work [we do] around changing laws at the state level is really part and parcel of how we will win at the federal level. Every state that passes adult use means you’re going to gain members of Congress, you’re going to gain two U.S. senators. Even if they don’t become champions, they’re not going to vote no for something their constituents have come to embrace," said Steven Hawkins, MPP's executive director.

"If we're successful it will send a message to Congress that they need to address the discrepancy between the state and federal laws on marijuana," said Matthew Schweich, MPP's deputy director.

"I think the lesson we've understood is that it is easier to pass these reforms through the ballot," said Jared Moffat, MPP's campaigns coordinator.

"Every election cycle, we pass more initiatives and it increases pressure on Congress," said Matthew Schweich, MPP's deputy director.