Legalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States

Common card · No. 220448

In the United States, cannabis is regulated by both state and federal law. The non-medical use of cannabis is legal under the laws of 24 states (plus Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia) and decriminalized in 7 states, as of November 2023. Cannabis is prohibited for any use under federal law, but these laws are not enforced in states that have legalized its use. Decriminalization refers to a policy of reduced penalties for cannabis offenses, typically involving a civil penalty for possessing small amounts (similar to how a minor traffic violation is treated), instead of criminal prosecution or the threat of arrest. In jurisdictions without penalty the policy is referred to as legalization, although the term decriminalization is sometimes used for this purpose as well. During a wave of decriminalization in the 1970s, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize cannabis in 1973. Ten more states followed by the end of 1978, influenced...

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