Five years after legalizing adult possession and home cultivation in 2021, Virginia lawmakers and Governor Abigail Spanberger struck a June 2026 budget compromise authorizing licensed adult-use cannabis retail sales to begin on…
Signed on June 22, 2021 and effective nine days later on July 1, Connecticut's SB 1201 legalized adult cannabis possession, reserved half of new licenses for social equity applicants, and phased in…
Signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 12, 2021 after a two-day special session, New Mexico's Cannabis Regulation Act legalized up to 2 ounces of flower, 6 mature plants per adult,…
On April 7, 2021, the Virginia General Assembly approved Governor Ralph Northam's amendments to SB 1406 and HB 2312, making Virginia the first state in the South to legalize adult possession and…
Signed on March 31, 2021 after passing the Senate 40–23 and Assembly 100–49, New York's MRTA immediately legalized possession of up to 3 ounces, allowed smoking anywhere tobacco is permitted, and mandated…
Signed on June 25, 2019 after passing the Illinois House 66–47 and Senate 38–17, the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act made Illinois the 11th legal state and the first legislature in history…
Before most U.S. state legislatures acted on recreational cannabis, lawmakers in the Northern Mariana Islands (September 21, 2018), Guam (April 4, 2019), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (January 18, 2023) enacted full…
Signed on January 22, 2018, Vermont's H.511 (Act 86) made history as the first time a state legislature—rather than a ballot measure—legalized adult cannabis possession and home cultivation.
In the spring of 2016, bipartisan majorities in Pennsylvania (April 17, 2016) and Ohio (June 8, 2016) enacted medical cannabis programs covering more than 24 million residents—followed by West Virginia in April…
Between July 2013 and July 2014, five major states—New Hampshire, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, and New York—enacted medical marijuana programs through their state legislatures.
In 2010, New Jersey signed the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act on January 18, and on November 2 Arizona voters approved Proposition 203 by a razor-thin 50.13% to 49.87% margin—just 4,341 votes…
Signed on June 14, 2000, Hawaii's Act 228 marked the first time a state legislature—rather than a voter ballot initiative—enacted a medical marijuana program.