Cannabis Legalization

According to Gallup polls, more than two-thirds of Americans support legalizing cannabis for adults’ use. Civiqs' state polling found shows plurality or majority support in every single state. Yet cannabis is still illegal in 26 states.

Over half the U.S. population lives in a legal cannabis state. States that have legalized cannabis are blue, red, and purple: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. (Voters in South Dakota passed a legalization law in November 2020, but it was overturned in court.)

MPP played a leading role in the campaigns to enact 14 of the 24 legalization laws, including the first legalization state in the nation — Colorado — and the first two through the state legislature, rather than the ballot box — Illinois and Vermont.

Legalizing and regulating cannabis for adults has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue and created tens of thousands of jobs. It has also displaced the criminal market and freed up law enforcement resources to focus on serious crime. Meanwhile, teenagers’ cannabis use rates haven’t increased, and voter support has grown.

Below you will find more 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.