In the middle of next week millions of Americans will front the ballot box and make a decision that, depending on your point of view, will leave their nation on course to become a complete smoking ruin or a richer and far more relaxed place. Some choice. Either way, the joint will never be the same again.

We do not speak of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton here. No, there's a greener candidate enjoying a surge in popularity across the US that, on present trends, is poised to enjoy enormous success. And Australia should sit back and take note.

Voters in nine US states will cast votes on whether to allow the legalisation of marijuana – five of them to vote on recreational use, the other four on allowing a more open market for medicinal marijuana. They join a growing number of other American states and countries around the world that have already moved to decriminalise the personal use and possession of cannabis.

This week in Australia federal legislation came into effect allowing businesses to apply to legally grow cannabis for medicinal use. Just who gets to use it will be left up the states to decide. But that's the easy part. The science is already decided when it comes to the beneficial effects of cannabis for those in chronic pain or suffering from life-shortening illnesses. The bigger question for Australia, and particularly for Mike Baird as the leader of the biggest and most influential state in the country, is whether we are now mature enough to make a strategic switch in our long-failing war on drugs and legalise personal marijuana use.