News — recreational marijuana

Regardless of the fact marijuana is still illegal at a federal level, there are only four U.S. states that agree and that don’t allow any kind of legal weed. The following is the current legal state of marijuana in 2018.

RECREATIONALLY LEGAL

Currently, ten states enjoy legalized recreational marijuana use: Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, California, and newly-decided Michigan.

Colorado and Washington were the first in the nation to recreationally legalize weed in 2012. In either state, weed can be purchased if you are 21 or older, but it is still not legal to use in a public space or drive under the influence.

Oregon and Alaska legalized both the sale and use of recreational weed in 2014. Maine, Nevada, and Massachusetts became similarly legalized in 2016.

Michigan voted in the 2018 midterm election to allow recreational marijuana for all people over 21. Michigan residents will legally be able to possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis. A 10% tax will be added to retail cannabis in addition to the state’s 6% sales tax. An estimated $100 million in revenue is expected, which will primarily go towards education and state road maintenance.

Vermont

Vermont was the first state to legalize weed via a completely legislative process. Gov. Phil Scott signed H.511 into law in January of 2018. That means Vermont residents 21 and over can legally possess up to one ounce of weed and grow as many as two mature and four immature marijuana plants starting July 1. Commercial cannabis sales are still not allowed, though.

MEDICALLY LEGAL

Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Arizona cover legal protections to medical marijuana patients from other states. Utah and Missouri both voted to allow medical marijuana in the 2018 midterm election. Puerto Rico also allows for medical consumption.

In New York and West Virginia, it is illegal to smoke weed, but both states do allow the consumption of marijuana in pill or vapor form. West Virginia additionally allows tinctures, topical creams, and patches.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana after the approval of State Question 788. Patients are required to be prescribed by a board-certified physician. Medical cannabis license holders are allowed to possess up to three ounces of marijuana on them, in addition to up to eight ounces at home. A tax of 7% is collected on medical weed.

Utah

This fall, Utah residents voted on a medical marijuana initiative. Legalization opponents were attempting a federal lawsuit to block the initiative from appearing on the November ballot, but finally withdrew their suit in early July.

Patients with medical cards will now be allowed to purchase up to two ounces of unprocessed marijuana with no more than 10 grams of THC or CBD once every two weeks.

Missouri

On Nov. 6, Missourians voted to legalize and regulate the use of medical marijuana via three different proposals:

The Bradshaw Amendment: A constitutional amendment that would tax marijuana at 15%, using the funds earned to create a state-ran institute to research cures for so far incurable diseases.

New Approach Missouri: Another constitutional amendment, this would place a four percent tax on marijuana and would spend the earnings on veterans programs and local governments.

Missourians for Patient Care: This would tax weed at two percent, spending the revenue collected on services for veterans, drug treatment, early childhood education and public safety in cities that have medical marijuana facilities.

Proposal 2 was passed in the election.

Arizona

Arizona was the only state to vote against recreational cannabis legalization in 2016, so it’s not surprising to find it up for a vote again this year, especially considering the slim margin in which it lost: 52/48. The group Safer Arizona needed to collect 150,000 signatures to get recreational legalization on the November ballot, but unfortunately failed and were only able to collect about 75,000.

Medical marijuana was legalized in Arizona in 2010 by a very narrow margin, with only 4,341 more votes for than against.

CBD OIL LEGAL

The use of CBD oil is currently legal in Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

ILLEGAL IN ALL FORMS

Don’t plan on moving to South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, or Idaho anytime soon if you like to smoke, as those states prohibit any form of marijuana use.

Critics still claim marijuana to be a gateway drug with negative health and societal impacts, but many have been positively swayed by the tax revenue potential. 2014 was the first full year that marijuana was recreationally legal in Colorado, and within that one year $63 million in state tax revenue was collected.