A map of everywhere marijuana is legalized in the US

Every year on April 20th, otherwise known as 4/20, reminds people around the US to celebrate marijuana, but it is also a reminder that the drug, although widely spoken about, is not recreationally legal in most states.

According to Statista, recreational use of marijuana is legal in 18 states while medicinal use is legal in 37 states.

We've come a long way since California made medical marijuana legal in 1996 and Colorado and Washington made recreational marijuana use legal in 2012.

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington have all legalized both medical and recreational use of the drug.

Wondering where it's legal and not legal? Here is a map of all the states where marijuana use has, or has not been, legalized from Statista.

The State of Marijuana Legalization in the U.S.www.statista.com

This chart shows laws on recreational and medical marijuana use in the U.S.

Only 11 states have outlawed marijuana entirely: Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

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Attitudes toward marijuana use have changed drastically over the last 10 years. During the 2020 election, five states chose to legalize the drug and one, New Jersey, is expected to make its first legal sale starting April 21, 2022.

More people are calling upon congresspeople to legalize, or at least decriminalize marijuana.

Cannabis has become less and less of a fringe issue as time has passed. Last year, in honor of 4/20 and the Covid vaccine being available, New York activists handed out free joints to those who could prove they had been vaccinated.

Wherever you celebrate 4/20, we hope you are respecting your state's drug laws.

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