CBS NEWS/ November 24, 2012, 6:00 AM CBS/ISTO

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Less than two weeks from now, on Dec. 6, anyone over the age of 21 will be able to light a joint in Washington state and, practically speaking, there's nothing the government can really do to stop that. The same will be true in Colorado within a matter of weeks.

Smoking marijuana there will soon be legal under state law because of the two initiatives -- Initiative 502 in Washington and Amendment 64 in Colorado -- that passed on Election Day with strong support. The push to legalize recreational marijuana was so successful, in fact, that the Colorado amendment received more votes than President Obama did on the Nov. 6 ballot in that state.