But rollout also came with some setbacks: dispensaries were slow to open, and getting product to remote parts of the state - accessible only by air travel, which is governed by federal law - proved difficult.īut after the first dispensary opened its doors in 2016, things picked up - Anchorage, home to 40 percent of the state’s population, had $9 million in pot sales in 2020, a 25-percent increase from 2019. Then, the state became one of the early adopters of adult-use recreational marijuana, with voters passing a ballot measure in 2014. AlaskaĪlaska was one of the first states to allow medical marijuana, legalizing in 1998 - but the measure didn’t allow for sales, so it wasn’t much of a program. Three additional bills are currently in committee. Introduced in March 2023, the measure would remove felony possession charges and instead levy $200 fines against offenders. Legislative efforts have been taken in 20 to change the medical program. Here’s where things stand is all 50 of them: In the meantime, states are continuing to prime themselves to legalize the drug, either for medicinal use, recreational use, or both. In 2022, Politico reported that over 155 million Americans lived in a legal cannabis state after the November 2022 Election Day results - inching closer to 50 percent of the population. It’s now a question of when, not if, politicians in Washington, D.C., will get with the program and decide to do what the majority of Americans support by passing legislation to end federal prohibition once and for all. In other instances, lawmakers and certain governors remain steadfast in their opposition to pot. At the same time, setbacks have come as ballot initiatives have been rejected. Since our last update two years ago, numerous states have passed recreational or medical laws. If the wave of green legislation is slowing to some degree now, that’s only because so many states have already taken action. If it seems like a new state is legalizing cannabis nearly every week, don’t worry, you’re not high - states are indeed allowing adult-use of the drug at an unprecedented pace.
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