Which States Will Legalize Next?

The movement for medical marijuana started in California in 1996. Although the marijuana movement was slow to get started, in the last few years it has snowballed into a national affair. In the last five years we have witnessed rapid movement in the direction of marijuana legalization, with Colorado being the first state to legalize recreational weed in 2012. Since then, ballot after ballot has given more and more states the opportunity to legalize, whether for medical or recreational reasons.  But which states will legalize next?

Unfortunately, there are still states in the USA where people are being arrested for being in possession of weed. While in some states, it’s basically mainstream to be smoking the herb, in others it is still completely illegal. So which states will be next to jump on the marijuana bandwagon? As early as 2018, several more states along the East and West coast could be in contention for legalizing recreational marijuana.

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To key you in on what has happened in the last year, North Dakota, Florida and Arkansas finally decided to legalize medical marijuana. California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada legalized recreational marijuana. More than half the states in the USA have now at least legalized medical marijuana, and eight states have legalized it recreationally for adults over 21. It’s anticipated that next year a handful of states will also jump on board with marijuana legalization.

Vermont
Vermont is among the list of states that has tried for marijuana legalization a bunch of times, but every time it reaches the Governor, it gets rejected. But this year Vermont finally made some headway on the topic of weed. This time Governor Phil Scott finally asked for the bill to include some lines regarding child safety as well as driving laws.

A “clear societal shift in that direction” is how the Governor described it this time around when it comes to weed, so it seems that there might be a ballot coming up soon for the legalization of weed. They will finally join Maine, their next door neighbours, in allowing the sale of marijuana.

Connecticut

 

With Massachusetts just next door having legalized weed, it’s not uncommon for people to drive across the border to get their hands on high quality legal pot. And of course, the economy of Connecticut is getting jealous, so I anticipate it won’t be long before something is finally made concrete in this state.

It isn’t one of the most profitable states in the USA and it would be stupid for the government to deny the billions of dollars that they could make from the sale of weed. I dare say that Connecticut will want a piece of the marijuana pie once and for all once they acknowledge that it could be the solution to many of their economic problems.

Arizona
There are some legal complications to get past in order to bring a new marijuana regime into movement in Arizona. They mainly have to do with the way that the bill is put together. If it isn’t perfect, then Arizona could face some problems trying to legalize. However, it is kind of becoming a fashion in the Southwest to legalize and they might want to join Nevada and California in that trend.

It is already legal to get medical marijuana in Arizona, but it seems that the population are ready to join California in legalizing it recreationally. If these legal issues aren’t a problem, then the people of Arizona will easily vote for legalization.

Minnesota

Minnesota is home of one of the strictest marijuana programs in the whole of the USA. In fact, they only very recently legalized medical marijuana. If recreational marijuana is on the cards, you can bet that there will be a lot of legal loopholes to jump through first. The Governor of Minnesota doesn’t have a very “pro-pot” attitude, and he seems to keep standing in the way of legalization dreams.

The conversation has definitely started about recreational weed, but so far it has gone absolutely nowhere. However, the Governor is expected to let his job go in 2018 which might open the doors for a freer dialogue about legalization.

Michigan
Michigan was among one of the first states to legalize medical marijuana in 2008, but until now the citizens of this state have somehow been disinterested in the legalization for adult use. Despite the fact that there were many petitions, there were never enough signatures collected for a ballot to be brought to the vote.

Finally, this year, the people of Michigan have started to gain an interest in legalizing recreational weed. There have been a lot of signatures collected and it seems likely that there will be a ballot in 2018. Activists think that the legalization of recreational marijuana in Arizona could pave the way for the rest of the midwest to jump on board.