After nearly a decade, the governor said his only regret was not doing it sooner. These days there are loads of dispensaries you can choose from—plus, more than half of that sweet tax revenue goes to public health programs. Medical cannabis became legal in , but it has taken for-ev-er for the program to actually materialize due to a lack of funding and various other hurdles.
In February, the Office of Medical Cannabis finally began allowing patients to register. As for the legalization of recreational weed, Governor Jim Justice is not opposed. Weed remains very illegal in the Badger State, despite having pro-cannabis leadership and a recently-released budget plan calling for the legalization of both medical and recreational cannabis in the state.
Likelihood of it passing through the GOP-controlled legislature? P slim. Bummer, considering weed laws in Wyoming are some of the harshest in the US. Luckily Yellowstone is weird and wonderful enough to blow your mind all on its own. Skip to main content Illustration by Grace Han for Thrillist.
Hey you! This article also comes in a fancy map version. Go check it out right here. Click to see it on the map. Alabama: Illegal. Alaska: Recreational. Arizona: Recreational. Arkansas: Medicinal. California: Recreational. Colorado: Recreational. Connecticut: Medicinal and Decriminalized. Delaware: Medicinal and Decriminalized. Florida: Medicinal. Georgia: Illegal. Hawaii: Medicinal and Decriminalized. Idaho: Illegal. Illinois: Recreational. Indiana: Illegal. Iowa: Medicinal. Kansas: Illegal.
Kentucky: Illegal. Louisiana: Medicinal. Maine: Recreational. Maryland: Medicinal and Decriminalized. Massachusetts: Recreational. Michigan: Recreational. Minnesota: Medicinal and Decriminalized. Mississippi: Medicinal and Decriminalized. Missouri: Medicinal and Decriminalized.
Montana: Recreational. Nebraska: Decriminalized. Nevada: Recreational. New Hampshire: Medicinal and Decriminalized. New Jersey: Recreational. New Mexico: Recreational. New York: Recreational. North Carolina: Decriminalized. Public consumption, however, is not permitted. Last October, Governor Gretchen Whitmer was able to sign legislation that allows residents with low-level cannabis convictions to have their records expunged.
Minnesota, which has had medically legal weed since , is currently putting an adult-use legalization bill through the ringer. I thought we had done everything right. Lawmakers have since been exploring ways to implement a medicinal program like the one voters approved last fall, but for now cannabis is still fully illegal in the state.
The party does have at least one legalization advocate. Shamad Dogan said earlier this year in proposing a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis. Montana was one of the five states that voted in favor of cannabis ballot initiatives last November.
Adults 21 and over are allowed to possess up to one ounce of flower and eight grams of THC concentrate, and four plants per individual eight per household may be cultivated at home. Actually passing anything is going to be difficult in the Republican-controlled state, though, so Democrats are aiming to let the people decide. Cannabis advocates in the state legislature want to get measures to legalize for recreational use and medicinal use on the ballot in It could happen.
Last November, South Dakota, a state every bit as red as Nebraksa, voted in favor of dual ballot measures to legalize. Nevada legalized for recreational use through a ballot measure back in Adults over 21 are able to possess up to an ounce of flower and 3. Last June, Governor Steve Sisolak pardoned over 15, people who had been convicted of cannabis-related offenses that are now legal.
New Hampshire may be known as a libertarian bastion — Live Free or Die, after all — but the state has held firm on traditionally conservative notions of weed. Medical marijuana is legal, and as of late January, there were just over 11, patients in the state, though a limited number of dispensaries exist, and personal cultivation is prohibited.
In January, Democrats introduced legislation for recreational weed. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy promised legal weed on the campaign trail; earlier this year, he finally came through. Edwin J. Back in , Governor John Corzine signed medical marijuana into law, but when Republican Governor Chris Christie came into office the following year, he stymied the initiative, keeping the list of conditions short and the barrier for entry high.
That all changed in , when incoming Gov. Phil Murphy signed a huge expansion into law, allowing for a range of conditions, and making it easier for patients to get the plant. There are now thirteen dispensaries serving roughly , registered patients in the state. Recreational pot passed via ballot initiative in , and the state has since been scrambling to formulate a Cannabis Commission, and to form regulations. Dispensaries are expected to open in early New Mexico officially became the 17th state to legalize cannabis for recreational use in April, less than two weeks after state lawmakers passed the Cannabis Regulation Act.
The new law allows adults 21 and over to possess up to two ounces of flower, permits the home cultivation of up to six plants, and automatically wipes the records of those convicted of low-level cannabis offenses. New York this spring became the 15th state to legalize cannabis for recreational use, passing some of the most progressive legislation in the nation.
The new law allows adults 21 and over to possess up to three ounces of flower, grow three plants per person and six per household at home, and to smoke weed anywhere cigarettes are permitted a first for any state. It also includes a host of restorative justice provisions, including the automatic expungement of records for those convicted of low-level offenses and ear-marking tax revenue for a community reinvestment fund. Cannabis is illegal in North Carolina, but some are optimistic that a medicinal bill could pass soon.
In April, Sen. Bill Rabon, one of the top Republicans in the state Senate, introduced the Compassionate Care Act, which would legalize cannabis for certain medicinal uses. Meanwhile, a poll conducted by Elon University in February found that a majority of residents support legalizing cannabis for adult use, while 73 percent support legalizing the drug for medicinal use.
It took a couple of tries for North Dakota to get medical marijuana — a ballot initiative failed in before one finally passed in An initiative made it to the ballot in , but it was rejected by almost 60 percent of voters.
Earlier this year, some were optimistic that HB , which passed the House, might bring full legalization, but the Senate shut that plan down just weeks later. Days later, the body also blocked an effort to get legalization onto the ballot. Maybe fourth time will be the charm? On Nov. In , Vermont became the first state to legalize marijuana for adult use through the legislative process rather than a ballot initiative.
Recently, New Jersey AB 21 legalized certain personal use, while removing marijuana as a schedule I drug. The newsletter discusses studies on crime rates, traffic accidents, prices, jobs, state budgets, and state workers' comp programs. In , Virginia adopted SJR 67 - having Virginia begin it's journey to join the other states in legalizing cannabis for recreational use. The resolution begins a study requiring recommendations for implementing legalization by July 1, The measures in New Hampshire and Rhode Island were enacted and established commissions to study the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana.
Bills to repeal voter initiatives approving adult-use legal marijuana were introduced in but did not pass in Washington. Several bills before state legislatures in addressed the federal role in marijuana policies. California passed a resolution urging Congress to pass legislation that would allow financial institutions to provide services to the cannabis industry.
Since , 18 states and Washington, DC, have legalized marijuana for adults over the age of And 37 states have legalized medical marijuana — meaning that a majority of Americans have access to cannabis, whether medically or recreationally.
Three states—New Mexico, Virginia, and South Dakota—passed legalization in recent months, and the laws took effect in late June and early July. In South Dakota, medical and recreational cannabis ballot measures passed in the November elections.
But only the medical program appears to be underway as recreational marijuana faces challenges. In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a legalization bill into law in April.
Retail sales are set to begin next year, though state residents are now able to grow and possess marijuana as of June Virginia legalized cannabis through its legislature in April. The law took effect on July 1, though marijuana sales won't begin in the state until On June 18, the Connecticut legislature legalized cannabis for adults 21 and over. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill legalizing marijuana on March His move came shortly after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation officially legalizing marijuana in his state.
New Jersey was one of four states, along with Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota, where voters backed legalizing recreational cannabis in November. Voters in Mississippi approved the creation of a medical cannabis program. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana in the state in May, though patients aren't expected to have access to cannabis until next year.
Some states that passed medical or recreational legislation through ballot measures have yet to iron out the details. For that reason, Insider does not include South Dakota in its tally of markets where the substance is legal for recreational use. Likewise, Mississippi's medical program has faced challenges after the election.
Canada legalized marijuana federally in , but US has not followed suit, forcing states to chart their own courses. As it stands, marijuana is still considered an illegal Schedule I drug by the US government. This article was first published in January and has been updated with new information about where cannabis is legal. It was last updated on July 8 after legalization officially took place in New Mexico, Connecticut, and Virginia.
Melia Russell contributed to an earlier version of this story. Adults 21 and over can light up in Alaska.
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