There are half a dozen states that have a shot at legalizing recreational marijuana via citizen initiative in 2016 in my opinion " California, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Maine, and Massachusetts. There are also states that could legalize via legislative action, which has never happened before. The three states that seem to be in play from a legislative action standpoint are Vermont, Rhode Island, and New Mexico. This last week a marijuana legalization bill passed out of the Vermont Senate Finance Committee, moving Vermont one step closer to ending marijuana prohibition. Below is the statement that was released by Vermont's Governor after the passage out of the Senate Committee:

Gov. Peter Shumlin issued the following statement after the Senate Finance Committee passed S.241 " legislation to legalize marijuana in Vermont " by a vote of 6 to 1.

I want to thank the Senate Finance Committee for their work and Senator Tim Ashe for his leadership. Today's vote builds upon the good work started by Senator Sears and the Senate Judiciary Committee. I am encouraged by the deliberate approach the Senate is taking on this issue, using the lessons learned from other states to craft a bill that is well thought out. We can take a smarter approach and I look forward to continuing to work to get a bill that ends the failed era of marijuana prohibition in Vermont.

Source: http://www.theweedblog.com/vermont-governors-statement-on-senate-committee-passage-of-marijuana-legalization-bill