According to national polls — including Pew, Gallup, and CNN — a majority of Americans now support making marijuana legal for adults’ use. Voters in eight states and Washington, D.C. have approved measures legalizing marijuana for individuals over 21, and the eight states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington — approved taking marijuana production and sales off the criminal market and regulating and taxing them.

Below you will find information about those laws and how they are working, along with materials to make the case for allowing adults to use a substance that is safer than alcohol.

1. The Case for Legalization and Regulation

• Top Ten Reasons to Tax and Regulate Marijuana
• Effective Arguments in Favor of Taxing & Regulating Marijuana*
• Support for Marijuana Policy Reform: A Summary of State and National Polling
• Marijuana is Safer Than Alcohol
• Regulation Works
• Conservative Thinkers and Marijuana Policy Reform
• Marijuana Prohibition Facts
• Marijuana Prohibition and Racial Justice (brochure)
• The Case for Taxing and Regulating Marijuana Like Alcohol (brochure)
• Endorsements and Statements of Support for Taxing and Regulating Marijuana for Adult Use

2. Overviews of Bills and Laws

• Model Tax and Regulate Bill Summary
• MPP’s Model State Bill to Replace Prohibition With Regulation
• Current Marijuana Policy Reform Bills
• Map of State Marijuana Laws
• Types of Marijuana Policy Reform Laws
• Review of State Laws to Regulate Marijuana

3. Responding to Concerns

• Gateway Theory Debunked
• Regulating Marijuana Like Alcohol Does Not Cause Public Safety Problems
• Teens’ Marijuana Use Does Not Increase Following Marijuana Policy Reforms
• Regulating Marijuana and Protecting Youth
• Access to Marijuana Can Help Fight the Opioid Epidemic

4. Data From States That Have Legalized and Regulated Marijuana

• Colorado and Washington: Life After Legalization and Regulation
  
• Life After Legalization: Colorado Business Outlook
• Marijuana Tax Revenue in States that Regulate Marijuana for Adult Use

5. Federal Policy

• DOJ Memo on Guidance Regarding Marijuana Enforcement
• Federal Enforcement Policy on State Marijuana Laws

* This document was last updated in January 2014.