Dec 09, 2014
Arizona, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Marijuana Policy Project, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, United States, Vermont
Executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, Rob Kampia, discusses what’s next for the push to make marijuana legal in the United States:
The state that will most likely be next to legalize is Rhode Island, which would be the first to do so via state legislature. Also this spring, the District of Columbia is expected to enact a similar law through its city council.
There's also a real opportunity to legalize marijuana through five more state legislatures between now and 2017 – Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Vermont. There will also be serious legislative activity in other states, such as New York, but it is less clear when such legislation will pass.
In November 2016, at least five states are expected to vote on similar ballot initiatives – Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada – and one could potentially appear on the ballot in Missouri.
By the end of 2017, marijuana could be legalized in 15 states and D.C., which would comprise 26% of the nation's population.
Read the rest of Kampia’s column here.