Where is marijuana legal? A Guide to Legalizing Marijuana in the United States

Cannabis (Spanish: Cannabis, Marijuana) is a drug made from the genus Cannabis that is considered a medical drug in countries where it is medically legalized. The main ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (abbreviated THC, a psychoactive substance), which usually produces euphoria when ingested.

 Smoking marijuana is still illegal in most countries (up to the death penalty in South Korea), but in some countries, such as the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Canada, and certain states in the United States, it can be smoked within the law. Whether or not smoking marijuana should be legalized is still a controversial topic in many countries.

A revolution in the legalization of marijuana has been underway in the United States in recent years. Support for legalizing marijuana has become mainstream among Democratic politicians, with some Republicans also supporting the idea. State legislatures are grappling with the question of whether and how to legalize the drug. An all-out push to legalize marijuana in every state in the U.S. would make the cannabis industry one of the fastest growing industries in the next decade.

Currently, the United States has not legalized marijuana at the federal level, and the situation varies from state to state. Here is a rundown of the current status of marijuana legalization in all 50 U.S. states.

In November 2012, the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado set a national precedent by passing referenda to legalize recreational marijuana with 55.3% and 54.9% support, respectively. Over the next nine years, 18 U.S. states have legalized the consumption and/or sale of adult-use marijuana through resident referendums or legislative opportunity legislation. The following are the 18 states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use as of January 2021 (listed in order of when the legalization measures were approved).

       Colorado            

       Washington          

       Alaska              

       Oregon            

       California

       Maine

       Massachusetts

       Nevada

       Vermont

       Michigan

       Illinois

       New Jersey

       Montana

       Arizona

       New York

       Virginia

       New Mexico

       Connecticut

States that have legalized the consumption and sale of adult-use and medicinal marijuana

          Only 11 of the 18 states that have legalized recreational marijuana have established marijuana stores to sell adult-use marijuana. These 11 states are (in alphabetical order)

       Alaska

       Arizona

       California

       Colorado

       Illinois

       Maine

       Massachusetts

       Michigan

       Nevada

       Oregon

       Washington

          Most of these 11 states that already sell recreational marijuana have established mature markets, and California is the largest marijuana market in the world, ranked by annual sales, with $4.4 billion in marijuana revenue in 2020, accounting for approximately 27 percent of all legal marijuana sales in the U.S. this year.

States that have approved recreational and medicinal marijuana, but adult-use marijuana sales have not yet been launched

         In addition to the 11 states mentioned above that already sell marijuana, the following seven states have not yet launched adult-use marijuana sales. These states are (in alphabetical order)

       Connecticut

       Montana

       New Jersey

       New Mexico

       New York

       Vermont

       Virginia

        Since the November 2020 election, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Virginia, and Connecticut have all signed bills to legalize recreational marijuana. However, it may still be some time before marijuana is officially available for sale in these states. Virginians will have to wait until Jan. 1, 2024, before they can buy adult-use marijuana products. Also, according to WCAX-TV, retail marijuana could be on shelves in Vermont in the fall of 2022. The District of Columbia could have a regulated recreational market as soon as August 2022, and Guam officials are closer to launching the region's own industry by signing a contract with marijuana regulatory system provider Metrc in November 2021.

States where adult-use marijuana is illegal, but medicinal marijuana has been legalized

        In addition to the 18 states that have legalized recreational marijuana, there are another 18 states that have legalized medicinal marijuana. However, it is important to note that the qualifications and conditions for approval of medicinal marijuana vary from state to state. The states that have legalized medicinal marijuana in the United States are (in alphabetical order)

       Alabama

       Arkansas

       Delaware

       Florida

       Hawaii

       Louisiana

       Maryland

       Minnesota

       Missouri

       New Hampshire

       North Dakota

       Ohio

       Oklahoma

       Pennsylvania

       Rhode Island

       South Dakota

       Utah

       West Virginia

        Although medicinal marijuana has fewer customers than adult-use marijuana, some states still have significant marijuana revenues. By 2024, Florida is projected to rank third in the U.S. in annual marijuana sales.

States where both recreational and medicinal marijuana are completely illegal

        Finally, there are 14 states in the United States that have legalized neither recreational nor medicinal marijuana. Listed in alphabetical order, these states are :

       Georgia

       Idaho

       Indiana

       Iowa

       Kansas

       Kentucky

       Mississippi

       Nebraska

       North Carolina

       South Carolina

       Tennessee

       Texas

       Wisconsin

       Wyoming