Supporters of California's Proposition 64 celebrate a victory for marijuana in Los Angeles on election night. Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters

The war on drugs took a decisive turn on Election Day.

So far, California, Massachusetts, and Nevada have voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Voters in Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota also passed ballot initiatives legalizing medical marijuana.

The results continue to roll in, and it's looking likely that at least a few of the remaining states will join the legalization movement.

Massachusetts became the first state in the Northeast to legalize marijuana. Legalization is currently leading by a slim margin in Maine as well.

"This is really day one of a decade-or-more-long process of bringing this industry into the light and getting rid of the illicit market," Richard Miadich, one of the authors of California's Proposition 64, told Business Insider on Tuesday.

The results are unprecedented, though not all that surprising. More Americans favor outright marijuana legalization than ever before. A recent Gallop Poll data showed an increase in support from 35% of US adults in favor of legalization in 2005, to 60% in 2016.

Nearly half of Americans say they have tried marijuana at least once in their life.

"This is the most momentous Election Day in history for the movement to end marijuana prohibition," Rob Kampia, the executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said. "From Los Angeles to Boston, voters are casting their ballots in favor of sensible marijuana policy reforms. Today's results are right in line with national polls showing record-high support for making marijuana legal."

Supporters of California's Proposition 64 gather to watch the election results in Sparc, San Francisco's premiere medical marijuana dispensary. Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Experts also stressed how marijuana is now going "bicoastal."

"Western states have led the way on legalizing marijuana but the victory in Massachusetts powerfully demonstrates that this movement is now bicoastal and soon to be national," Ethan Nadelmann, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said. "Indeed, I'd wager that the next states to legalize marijuana will also be in the Northeast."

California, however, became the heaviest domino yet to fall in the nationwide push to legalize marijuana. The state's economy is the sixth largest in the world, in terms of GDP, and the success of Proposition 64 sends a clear signal to the federal government.

The decision comes 20 years after California became the first state to legalize and regulate the medicinal use of marijuana under Proposition 215, a 1996 voter initiative.

Proposition 64 allows adults over the age of 21 to use, possess, and transport up to an ounce of marijuana for nonmedical purposes, and grow as many as six plants. It becomes effective immediately. The bill also imposes a 15% tax on sales of the drug, generating up to $1 billion in new tax revenue annually, according to the state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

Marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug. REUTERS/Jason Redmond

Some are calling California a "tipping point" in the battle to end the prohibition on pot.

"Marijuana reforms in the US could reach a tipping point, accelerating the acceptance of marijuana in both medical and social settings and fueling the growth of an industry that is already expanding rapidly," Peter Murphy, an attorney that works on marijuana issues, said.

The result in California and Massachusetts is an "epic outcome," Todd Palmieri, the CEO of Tradiv, a wholesale website for cannabis, told Business Insider.

"And really, we should honor the people that have fought long and hard, for decades – the California cultivators, brokers, dispensary owners, budtenders – everyone that risked life and liberty when cannabis was vilified," Palmieri said.

Still, marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug, which makes it illegal in the eyes of the federal government. How will the plant fare under president-elect Donald Trump?

Trump has flip-flopped on the issue throughout his public life. The Manhattan billionaire supported state's rights to choose how to legislate medical marijuana, but has not expressly called for legalization. His campaign hasn't yet taken a definitive stance on the issue.

We'll continue to update this post as more state results are announced.