Map: Here’s where marijuana is – and isn’t – legal
FILE – In this Aug. 15, 2019 file photo, marijuana grows at an indoor cannabis farm in Gardena, Calif. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
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(NEXSTAR) – While the House is expected to pass legislation this week to legalize marijuana, dozens of states already allow residents to access marijuana in various forms.
Thirty-seven states have already approved marijuana for medical use. Among those, nearly 20 have also cleared it for recreational use among adults.
Colorado and Washington were the first to approve adult-use recreational marijuana measures in 2012, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Two years later, Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia followed suit.
For 10 states, CBD and products low in THC are available despite marijuana not being legalized for medical or recreational use. And in just three states – Idaho, Nebraska, and Kansas – marijuana isn’t legal in any form.
The below map shows where states stand on the legalization of marijuana based on data from the NCSL.
In January, Idaho lawmakers moved forward with a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar the legalization of marijuana in the state, despite all of its neighbors already having some sort of policy allowing residents to possess marijuana or products low in THC.
In Kansas, lawmakers are still mulling a bill that would legalize medical marijuana. According to Nexstar's KSNT, the bill awaits a committee's approval but has bipartisan support in the legislature. Next door in Nebraska, the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana organization is working to collect enough signatures to put medical cannabis on the November ballot, local news outlet KETV reports.
A 2021 Pew Research study found the vast majority of American adults - 91% - believe in legalizing marijuana in some capacity. Sixty percent support making marijuana legal for medical and recreational use while 31% support legalization for medical use only.
The House could pass its bill to legalize marijuana as early as Thursday. The bill would then go to the Senate, which recently passed a separate bill unanimously that expands scientific and medical research on marijuana and its compounds, according to The Hill.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
