Legalized pot: What happens now in Colorado and Washington?

Amazingly, recreational marijuana is now perfectly legal in two states. But it's still illegal according to the feds

A woman holds a joint at a 2010 pro-marijuana '4/20' celebration in front of the state capitol building in Colorado.
(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

Proponents of legalizing marijuana for recreational use have been putting the idea up for popular vote since 1972, and voters had never signed on — until Nov. 6. When residents of Colorado and Washington (but not Oregon) woke up Wednesday morning to an America where Barack Obama was still president, Democrats still controlled the Senate, and Republicans still controlled the House, they also learned that in their states it's legal for adults to smoke and sell pot "for fun and profit," as The Economist puts it. It is still, however, a criminal offense to grow, sell, or consume marijuana, according to the federal government. So what happens next? Here's what you should know:

Pot is really legal in Colorado and Washington state?

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