Legal cannabis is a $15 billion industry in the US, but it’s still prohibited on the federal level.
Though marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes in 37 states — and recreationally in 18 — the use, possession or sale of cannabis is still prohibited by federal statute.
That’s created a significant disconnect that an increasing number of lawmakers are eager to reconcile: In a letter last month, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, Senate finance committee chair Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Cory Booker invited their colleagues to help draft legislation that would end the federal ban and lift state-sanctioned dispensaries out of legal limbo.
Legal US cannabis sales hit nearly $15 billion in 2021 and are on target to surpass $25 billion within the next three years. In 2021 alone, legislation fully legalizing pot passed in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico and Virginia — the first Southern state to do so.
On Tuesday, New Jersey began accepting applications to open dispensaries, and Gov. Phil Murphy said the first shops could be open by this summer.
Here’s what to know about which states have legalized marijuana, the status of legalization efforts on the federal level and how Americans feel about legal weed.
What does federal law say about marijuana?
Under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the Drug Enforcement Agency still classifies cannabis — also known as marijuana, weed, pot and other terms — as a Schedule I drug, “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Growing, possessing or distributing marijuana is a violation of federal drug laws. (Other Schedule I drugs include heroin and LSD, while cocaine is listed as a Schedule II drug.)
In 2013, President Barack Obama directed the Justice Department to update federal marijuana enforcement policies to defer to state authorities in jurisdictions that had legalized marijuana, “based on assurances that those states will impose an appropriately strict regulatory system.”
Known as the Cole Memorandum, this guidance was rescinded in 2018 by Jeff Sessions, attorney general under President Donald Trump.
Marijuana legalization advocates have encouraged President Joe Biden to direct current US Attorney General Merrick Garland to reinstate the Cole memorandum.
Which states have legalized medical marijuana?
As of February, 37 states have legalized the medical use of cannabis: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
In addition, the District of Columbia and the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands have all legalized medical marijuana.
Each jurisdiction has its own criteria regarding what conditions cannabis can be prescribed for, at what amounts and what the process is for issuing medical marijuana licenses to qualified residents.
Lawmakers in Kansas are poised to pass medical-marijuana legislation, after a 2021 bill was pulled from the state Senate’s calendar. Now under debate within the Senate Federal and State…
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