Legal Weed

Half of Americans Live in States Where Weed Is Legal

This week in August 2013, the U.S. government cleared the way for the legalization of marijuana in the country, as the Justice Department stated in a press release that it was not going to enforce federal law prohibiting the drug's use in states that were launching recreational cannabis programs at the time. Ten years down the line, half of Americans live in states where marijuana is legal and another 80 million have access to medical marijuana. This means that almost three quarters of U.S. residents live in a state with some sort of legal weed.

In 2013, it was Colorado and Washington which were gearing up to legalize marijuana after successful ballot initiatives as part of the November 2012 elections. But the federal government's policy statement was also relevant for another 18 states and the District of Columbia, which at the time had already legalized medical marijuana.

Data from the Census Bureau shows that between 2012 and 2014, a substantial number of people continued to gain access to medical marijuana as larger states like Massachusetts and Illinois passed measures. After that year, shifts to recreational weed legislation dominate the statistic with significant legalizations in California (2016), Michigan (2018), New Jersey (2020) and New York (2021), effectively lowering the number of people under medical marijuana legislation only. Despite this, a total of 14 states have passed medical marijuana ballots or legislation after 2015, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Utah and most recently Kentucky.

Description

This chart shows the number of Americans living in states with medical/recreational marijuana laws, by year of approval.

Download Chart
Premium statistics
Support for U.S. marijuana legalization 2000-2023, by political affiliation
Premium statistics
Support for U.S. marijuana legalization 2000-2023, by age
Support for U.S. marijuana legalization 1969-2023
Legalization of non-medical cannabis in South Korea 2022
Americans on the legalization of marijuana 2003-2021
Number of Canadian registered medical marijuana patients by quarter 2015-2023

Any more questions?

Get in touch with us quickly and easily.
We are happy to help!

Do you still have questions?

Feel free to contact us anytime using our contact form or visit our FAQ page.

Statista Content & Design

Need infographics, animated videos, presentations, data research or social media charts?

More Information