Voters of Massachusetts legalized marijuana for recreational use on Tuesday, ignoring a century of prohibition and opening a new way to a massive new industry.

The vote meant that the drug will become legal for the use on Dec. 15, and marijuana shops can open it in 2018. It will throw an immediate challenge for the slow-moving state bureaucracy, which needs to craft new laws  quickly and regulate to oversee if it could soon become a billion-dollar business. According to unauthorized results Voters supported the measure 53 percent to 47 percent with aprecincts reports of 66 percent at 11:45 PM.

The Question 4 came despite the opposition urged from Governor Charlie Baker, Mayor Martin J. Walsh, and Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley who argued that it would be a mistake to legalize a new drug while the state fights a scourge of abuse and who said that legalization would be resulted in danger to public health and safety.

Voters of four states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana already, despite the drug remaining banned under federal law.

Massachusetts being one of five states who considered legalization on Tuesday. California voters supported legalization. Arizona voters refused it, and the outcome in Maine remained much close to call as of early on Wednesday.

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By Prakriti Neogi