How many states have decriminalized pot

The state has had a medical marijuana program for five years, which has o ver half a million registered patients and caregivers; polling suggests two-thirds of voters support adult-use. In addition, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman has become a national, vocal advocate of legalization.

We need to expunge all criminal convictions. If there is anybody serving jail time for a marijuana conviction, get them out immediately. Things are looking hopeful: In February, a bipartisan pair of state senators announced a bill that would legalize cannabis in the state — the first time a Republican lawmaker has sponsored such legislation. Legalization will probably happen for Rhode Island this year. In March, leaders in the Senate put forward a bill, and days later, Governor Dan McKee announced his proposal as part of the budget.

They both call for the legalization of marijuana for adults 21 and over, establishment of licensing procedures, and both address giving back to the communities torn apart by the war on drugs. All cannabis is illegal in deep-red South Carolina, but one Republican lawmaker is doing all he can to pass a medicinal marijuana bill. Tom Davis in April threatened to hold all other legislation hostage if his colleagues tried to block his medicinal bill.

A poll conducted earlier this year found that 72 percent of South Carolinians are in favor of medicinal cannabis. South Dakota may be one of the most conservative states in the nation, but in November its residents voted in favor of an initiative to legalize cannabis for medicinal use and an initiative to legalize it recreationally. Republican officials like Governor Krisi Noem have been fighting both initiatives.

The medicinal law will take effect July 1st, but in January a state circuit judge ruled the adult-use initiative was unconstitutional. Advocates are appealing the ruling to the state Supreme Court, which is expected to hand down a decision this summer. A year later, they changed it to allow qualifying patients to bring products in from other states which is, of course, also against the law and in modified it again to specify those products had to be extremely low-THC — essentially just CBD products.

Republican Governor Bill Lee in May signed a bill to expand the program, although not significantly, and to create a commission to study the possibility of a more comprehensive medicinal program. Texas is tough on cannabis. Arrests are now declining, but as recently as the state arrested nearly , people for cannabis-related offenses.

There have been some recent efforts to bring about reform, most notably a bill to decriminalize that passed through a House committee in April, but for now, the drug is fully illegal. Texas does allow for the medicinal use of low-THC products, but only for a narrow set of intractable conditions.

Though Utah has legalized medical weed, it was a hard road getting there — and it ended in a more conservative bill than advocates had hoped. In , as a voter initiative made its way to the ballot, the church stepped up with a counter offer , striking things like home-grow from the deal. Voters passed the initial version, but lawmakers enacted the more restrictive law. In , Vermont became the first state to legalize cannabis for adult use via the state legislature.

Adults 21 and over are permitted to possess up to one ounce of flower, five grams of THC concentrate, and grow six plants. Lawmakers last year passed a tax-and-regulate bill, and a retail market is projected to be up in running by spring It is the Green Mountain State, after all. This April, Virginia became the first state in the South to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

Initially, the bill was expected to go into effect in — but Governor Ralph Northam pushed that up to July 1st, In the meantime, as of July, residents will be able to grow up to four cannabis plants and legally possess an ounce of weed, and medical patients can go to one of four dispensaries in the state.

Cannabis has been fully legal in Washington state since Governor Jay Inslee earlier this year touted how well the program has been doing. Cannabis is fully legal in Washington, D. The small handful of dispensaries in the district only sell to medicinal patients.

Recreational dispensaries are coming, though, and the first sales are expected in late or West Virginia had three bills introduced in the session — two to legalize pot, and one to decriminalize it. None of them made it to the floor, but will be carried over into They are, however, rolling out a medical program this year — though it was signed into law in , patients only became eligible to register this February.

Growers, processors, and dispensaries have already been issued licenses, but there are still a few more hurdles before the program fully rolls out — such as figuring out who will test the product for fungus, pesticides, and potency before it goes to market.

Wisconsin may be a swing state, but cannabis is fully illegal and the laws prohibiting it are strict. Cannabis is fully illegal in Wyoming, and the penalties for violations are strict. 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. In , the northernmost US state made it legal for residents to use, possess, and transport up to an ounce of marijuana — roughly a sandwich bag full — for recreational use. The first pot shop opened for business in Alaska has pounced on the opportunity to make its recreational-pot shops a destination for tourists.

Arizona in voted to legalize cannabis for all adults over the age of The ballot measure was backed by a number of cannabis giants, including Curaleaf, Cresco, and Harvest Enterprises. The Arizona Department of Health Services began accepting applications for adult-use licenses on January Approvals were issued just three days later on January Sales began immediately.

Arizona rolled out adult-use sales faster than any other state that voted to pass recreational cannabis in the November elections. Companies already operating in the state's medical market had a first crack at recreational customers. In , California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana. California became even more pot-friendly in when it made it legal to use and carry up to 1 ounce of marijuana.

The law also permits adults 21 and over to buy up to 8 grams of marijuana concentrates, which are found in edibles, and grow no more than six marijuana plants per household. In Colorado, there are more marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks and McDonald's combined. The state joined Washington in becoming the first two states to fully legalize the drug in Residents and tourists over the age of 21 can buy up to 1 ounce of marijuana or 8 grams of concentrates.

Some Colorado counties and cities have passed more restrictive laws. On June 18, the Connecticut legislature legalized cannabis for adults 21 and over and the law took effect on July 1.

Recreational cannabis is now legal in the state and adults are allowed to possess or consume up to 1. The Garden State officially joined the cannabis club earlier this year, after passage of a referendum on the ballot.

The current recreational law does not allow for home-growing, though additional legislation is being explored that would allow for six plants. The Land of Enchantment, indeed! It may seem surprising that it took this long in a state where weird shit like Meow Wolf is commonplace, but better late than never. Registered patients can grow as many as 16 plants at home so long as only four are mature at the same time.

As of March 31, New York is officially on the legal weed market—and what a market it shall be, with NYC residents consuming more weed than any other city on earth: Legal possession of up to three ounces is effective immediately, with home growing also legalized for up to six plants.

Backs patted. One small glimmer of hope: A new senate bill to create a legal and medical cannabis program was introduced this spring.

In May , North Dakota became the 25th state to decriminalize possession in small amounts. You can now carry up to. Sale of any amount is a felony, as is possession of any amount within 1, feet of a school. Activists are gearing up to place a legalization initiative on the ballot for The state had already decriminalized weed in amounts up to grams about 3.

Oklahoma was already in our residual good graces because they built a boat district with a dope whitewater rafting course in the middle of their capital city, but in late they unveiled a medicinal cannabis program that's among the most liberal in the country.

There's no restrictive list of qualifying medical conditions, which has allowed more than , patients to enroll. And unlike a lot of other states where commercial rollout can stay stuck in limbo for months or years after a ballot measure is approved, Oklahoma hit the ground running, with hundreds of dispensaries springing up across the state almost overnight.

No luck on decriminalization so far though, with the governor vetoing a weed policy reform bill in and a legalization ballot initiative deemed invalid by the state Supreme Court. Green thumbs can grow up to four plants at home without risking any fine or penalty; for registered medicinal users, those numbers jump to 24 ounces and up to six plants, plus 18 seedlings. Which is why even prescription holders tend to resort to less legal methods to get bud in Pennsylvania. Legalization bills have so far failed to make it past the House, but hope is on the horizon with a bipartisan legalization bill recently introduced in the legislature and the governor voicing support.

Sales and cultivation still carry felony charges. All sales are felonies, all forms of cultivation are felonies… you get the idea. South Dakota is one of the most underrated states in some respects, and definitely the more underrated Dakota. L ast November, voters approved a legalization measure that would have set up both recreational and medical programs; unfortunately, the recreational portion was struck down as unconstitutional.

An appeal to the state Supreme Court appears likely. While supporters are rightfully keeping their eyes on the prize, getting a medical program passed in a red state like South Dakota is no small feat. Tennessee is decidedly unchill. Despite many efforts in to loosen the laws, including a Republican-backed medical cannabis bill, opposed lawmakers are doing their damndest to delay progress. The state does allow for some hemp and CBD. Texas produced Willie Nelson, and so far that is the extent of its legacy in terms of normalizing weed usage.

Recreational use remains illegal in Utah, but medical cannabis is available to patients with qualifying conditions. And all because you wanted to get weird at Arches. That meant residents had to grow their own supply or sneak over state lines. But after three years, the state has finally allowed for licensed retail cannabis stores to open no later than May 1, In other good news, a bill to automatically expunge all cannabis possession offenses took effect on January 1st of this year.

In February , Virginia became the first state in the Old South to legalize weed. A genteel nod of approval to you, Virginia. Weed is legal in DC , but selling it is still prohibited.

This has resulted in companies like HighSpeed and Joint Delivery selling T-shirts and posters and giving weed away as a gift with purchase. Things might change soon, though: A new bill called the Safe Cannabis Sales Act of , if passed, would get cannabis retailers up and running by October Washington tied for first alongside Colorado to legalize recreational grass back in 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.

NCSL has sent a letter to Congress in in support of a recently introduced bill to protect state sovereignty with respect to marijuana regulation. NCSL also sent a letter in support of language prohibiting the DOJ from using justice funding for enforcement actions against states with legal medical marijuana laws.

Under federal law, marijuana is still a Schedule I illegal substance. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana.

This generally means certain small, personal-consumption amounts are a civil or local infraction, not a state crime or are a lowest misdemeanor with no possibility of jail time. In and preceding the successful legalization ballot measure, the District of Columbia enacted legislation, which passed congressional review, and made possession or transfer without remuneration of one ounce or less of marijuana a civil violation. Other state actions have reduced criminal penalties for marijuana convictions, generally following a trend to reduce adverse consequences of some marijuana crimes.

In the past decade, legislation in at least 16 states have amended marijuana penalties. Forty-one states, two territories, and the District of Columbia all have record clearing laws which may apply to cannabis.

Of these, seven states record clearing laws specifically address cannabis offenses.