Where will marijuana be legal in 2023?
FILE – Marijuana plants for the adult recreational market are seen hanging in a drying room at a farm in Suffolk County, N.Y., Oct. 4, 2022. The first legal dispensary for recreational marijuana in New York is set to open Thursday, Dec. 29, marking a long-awaited launch of a cannabis industry that could become one of the country’s most lucrative. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
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(NEXSTAR) – After voters in several states approved recreational marijuana in 2022, the U.S. heads into the new year with nearly half of states having full legalization.
The biggest changes are in the Northeast, where the legalization of recreational pot is new in several states. Rhode Island and New York kicked off sales in December 2022. Connecticut will allow sales to adults aged 21 and older on Jan. 10, 2023. Maryland is preparing to allow adult use starting on July 1.
Missouri also voted to legalize recreational marijuana in November. Dispensaries there are still working to get permitted, so recreational sales aren’t expected to start until February 2023 at the earliest.
See where marijuana will be legal in 2023 in the map below, created using data from the National Conference of State Legislatures:
By the end of 2023, a few more states could be added to the list of green states. Oklahoma will vote on the issue in March. The Ohio state legislature is also considering a bill to legalize the use and sale of recreational weed.
Voters in three states – Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota – rejected legalizing weed in the November election. Medical use is legal in all three states.
Only three states have no public-use marijuana program of any kind (neither medical or recreational) according to the National Conference of State Legislatures: Idaho, Kansas and Nebraska.
Nexstar's Addy Bink contributed to this report.
