Timeline of cannabis laws in the United States

Cannabis laws in the United States¹

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  Jurisdiction with legalized cannabis.

  Jurisdiction with both medical and decriminalization laws.²

  Jurisdiction with legal psychoactive medical cannabis.

  Jurisdiction with legal non-psychoactive medical cannabis.

  Jurisdiction with decriminalized cannabis possession laws.

  Jurisdiction with cannabis prohibition.

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¹ Includes laws which have not yet gone into effect.
² Mississippi has only legal non-psychoactive medical cannabis.

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* Cannabis remains a Schedule I substance under federal law as of 2015.
* Some cities and Indian Reservations have legalization policies separate from their surrounding states.
* Cannabis is illegal in all Federal enclaves.

Timeline of medical marijuana legalization in the USA
(State-level legalization) 1996: California 1998: Alaska, Oregon, Washington 1999: Maine 2000: Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada 2004: Montana 2006: Rhode Island 2007: New Mexico, Vermont 2008: Michigan 2010: Arizona, New Jersey 2011: Delaware, Washington, D.C. 2012: Connecticut, Massachusetts 2013: New Hampshire, Illinois 2014: Maryland, Minnesota, New York Total states: 23 and D.C.

The legal history of cannabis in the United States began with federal prohibition in the early 20th century. Starting with Oregon in 1973, individual states began to liberalize cannabis laws through decriminalization and legalization of recreational cannabis, as well as the legalization of medical marijuana for non-recreational use. This article makes no distinction between degree or required consumption manner of legalized medical marijuana. More detailed information regarding medical cannabis in the United States or decriminalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States can be found elsewhere. This article is meant as a timeline and nothing more.

Legislation

Federal

• 1937: The Marijuana Tax Act is passed, effectively prohibiting all use of cannabis on a federal level.
• 1970: The Controlled Substances Act is passed, prohibiting cannabis federally along with several other drugs and replacing the 1937 act.
• 2014: The United States House of Representatives passed a bill prohibiting the DEA from using funds to arrest medical cannabis patients in states with medical cannabis laws.

States

• 1917: Colorado In March 1917, Colorado legislators made the use and cultivation of cannabis a misdemeanor;
• 1973: Oregon decriminalized cannabis.
• 1975: Alaska decriminalized cannabis.
• 1976: Maine decriminalized cannabis.
• 1978: New Mexico legalized medical cannabis.
• 1973-1978: California, Colorado, Mississippi, New York, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Ohio decriminalized cannabis. Certain cities and counties, particularly in California, adopted laws to further decriminalize cannabis.
• 1996: California legalized medical cannabis. (California proposition 215)
• 1996: First marijuana dispensary, Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana appears in Fairfax, California, USA.
• 1998: Oregon legalized medical cannabis. (Oregon Medical Marijuana Act)
• 1999: Maine legalized medical cannabis.
• 2000: Nevada legalized medical cannabis.
• Colorado legalized medical cannabis.
• 2004: Montana legalized medical cannabis.
• 2007: New Mexico and Vermont legalized medical cannabis.
• 2008: Michigan legalized medical cannabis. Massachusetts decriminalized cannabis.<
• 2010: New Jersey and Arizona legalized medical cannabis.(Arizona's proposition 203)
• 2012: Massachusetts legalized medical cannabis. (Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Initiative)
• 2012: Washington and Colorado legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 years of age or older.
• 2014: Maryland decriminalized cannabis. Minnesota and New York legalized medical cannabis.
• 2014: Alaska and Oregon legalized recreational cannabis. Alaska's law took effect on February 25, 2015. Oregon's initiative began on July 1, 2015.
• 2015: Georgia legalized medical cannabis.
• 2015: Texas legalized medical cannabis.
• 2015: Delaware decriminalized cannabis.
• 2016: Pennsylvania legalized medical cannabis.

Municipal

• 1998: Washington D.C. attempted to legalize medical cannabis with the passage of Initiative 59, but was prevented by the Barr Amendment from putting the new law into action until 2009, with the first legal medical sales occurring in 2013.
• 2004: Oakland, California passes Measure Z, making private adult cannabis offenses the lowest possible priority for law enforcement, establishing a system to regulate, tax, and sell cannabis pending state legalization, and urging legalization on the state and national levels.
• 2005: Denver, Colorado legalized cannabis.
• 2009: Breckenridge, Colorado legalized cannabis.
• 2013: Portland, Maine legalized cannabis.
• 2014: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania decriminalized cannabis.
• 2014: Washington D.C.'s City Council decriminalized cannabis in July, and the electorate voted in November to legalize recreational marijuana with 69% in favor. A Congressional rider prevented DC from permitting retail marijuana stores. On February 26, 2015, marijuana became legal in D.C. for adults aged 21 and over to possess, gift and grow but not to sell.
• 2014: New York City, New York decriminalized cannabis.

Territory

• 2014: Guam legalized medical cannabis.

Indian Reservations

• 2014: The US Justice Department allowed recognized Indian Reservations to regulate cannabis laws within their reservation. The laws in the reservations are allowed to be different from state and federal laws. As with State and Territories, the Federal government will not intervene as long as the reservations regulate strict control over cannabis. Some domestic nations such as the Yakama Nation and the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council rejected the approval to allow cannabis on their reservation.
• 2015: The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe (South Dakota) voted to legalize recreational cannabis on its territory.

Opinion

Presidential

• 2015: President Barack Obama declared his support of cannabis decriminalization but opposition to legalization.

Public

• 2011: Gallup reported a record 50% of Americans surveyed supported legalization.
• 2013: The Pew Research Center presented U.S. survey results that showed prohibition support as a minority position for the first time in four decades: 52% supported legalization. Gallup reported a record 58% of Americans support nationwide legalization.
• 2014: Research conducted by the Pew Research Center in February showed an increase in the percentage of legalization supporters, from 52% to 54%, while the New York Times published its Editorial Boards series "High Time: An Editorial Series on Marijuana Legalization" in July.
• 2015: Gallup reported a record 58% of Americans support marijuana legalization.

See also

• Legal history of cannabis in the United States
• Places that have decriminalized non-medical cannabis in the United States