States with proposed bills to legalize cannabis for adults: 7

• Hawai’i — HB 1246 and SB 1613 would legalize and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older. HB 1246 passed out of the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs and Agriculture & Food Systems Committees on February 4, 2025, but was referred back to committee. SB 1613 passed out of the Senate Health and Human Services and Judiciary Committees but was not scheduled for a hearing in the next two committees before a 2025 deadline. HB 519 proposes a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older. It would require a two-thirds vote to refer to voters. All three carry over from 2025.
• Indiana — HB 1191 would decriminalize possession of two ounces or less of cannabis. Possessing more than two ounces of cannabis would be a class B misdemeanor.
• Kansas — HB 2405 would legalize and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older.
• New Hampshire —CACR 19 proposes a state constitutional right for adults 21 and older to possess personal use amounts of cannabis. It requires a three-fifths majority in the House and Senate to appear on the November 2026 ballot. HB 186 would legalize and regulate cannabis for adults. It passed the House on January 7, 2026, in a 208-135 vote. It is now in the House Finance Committee. HB 1235 would legalize up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and similar amounts of other products. HB 198 would legalize simple possession of cannabis and penalize public smoking. It passed the House floor 208-125 on March 26, 2025, and was tabled by the Senate floor in a 12-10 vote, with two excused. HB 75 would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older. It passed the House in a voice vote, and was tabled on the Senate floor in a 15-9 vote.
• North Carolina — H 413 would legalize and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older. S 350 would legalize and regulate both adult-use and medical cannabis.
• Pennsylvania — SB 120, HB 20, and HB 1735 would legalize cannabis with privately-run, state-licensed stores. All are pending in committee and have not received hearings. HB 1200 would have legalized cannabis for adults, with sales from state-run stores. It passed the House of Representatives in a 102-101 vote on May 7, 2025, but was voted down, 7-3, by the Senate Law and Justice Committee. HB1107 says it would establish an adult-use cannabis program, but it is an incomplete bill focused on farmer-grower permits.
• Tennessee — HB0703, HB 836, SB809, and HB981 would legalize and regulate cannabis for adults. SB923 and HB981 would legalize possession and home grow of up to five plants without a regulated market. All bills carried over from 2025.

Twenty-four states, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have legalized cannabis for adults 21 and older. One of the 24 states — Virginia — only has legal possession and home cultivation, with no legal sales, as does Washington, D.C. In Virginia, lawmakers plan to propose legislation to create the framework to permit adult-use sales. Thus far, Congressional intervention has prevented regulated adult-use sales in Washington, D.C., where voters legalized adult-use possession and home cultivation.

States with decriminalization bills: 4

• Iowa — HF 72 would decriminalize possession of 10 grams or less of cannabis. HF 78 would decriminalize possession of up to one-half ounce (14 grams). Although these bills remove jail time for possession, they carry an exorbitant $500 misdemeanor fine.
• Kansas — SB 295 would create a civil infraction of $25 for possession of under one ounce, five grams of concentrate, or 1000 milligrams of edibles.
• Pennsylvania — SB 75 and HB 758 would reduce the penalty for possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana or eight grams of hashish to a summary offense carrying a fine of up to $25. They impose a fine of up to $100 for smoking cannabis in public. SB 75 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, while HB 578 is in the House Judiciary Committee.
• South Carolina —H 3110 would create a civil infraction for possession of 28 grams of cannabis flower or 10 grams of hashish. 

Thirty-one states and Washington, D.C. have decriminalized or legalized cannabis possession. Check out MPP’s report on the 19 states that have not even stopped jailing cannabis consumers.

States with bills to create comprehensive medical cannabis programs: 7

Georgia — SB 220 would strengthen Georgia’s existing low-THC program. (Due to limitations in its program, MPP considers Georgia a “low-THC medical cannabis state” instead of a state with a comprehensive medical cannabis law.)

Kansas — SB 294 would create a conservative, comprehensive medical cannabis program. 

Iowa — HF 950 would allow medical cannabis patients to have inhalable botanical cannabis, creating flexibility in treatment options. (Due to limitations in its program, MPP considers Iowa a “low-THC medical cannabis state” instead of a state with a comprehensive medical cannabis law.) 

North Carolina — HB 1011 would create a comprehensive medical cannabis program. HB 984 would allow patients to participate in approved state cannabis research programs.

South Carolina — S 0053 would create a conservative, comprehensive medical cannabis program. H 3019 would create a much more expansive medical cannabis program than S0053. H3018 would give legal protection from prosecution for veterans suffering from combat-related PTSD for possession of under 28 grams of cannabis flower or 10 grams of hashish. 

Tennessee — HB0872 would create comprehensive medical cannabis programs. 

Wisconsin — SB 534 would allow individuals with a qualifying medical condition and a prescriber’s written confirmation to register to use and safely access medical cannabis preparations. It received a hearing in the Senate Health Public Committee on Oct. 22, 2025, but has not yet received a vote. AB 547 is a very similar or identical bill, which was referred to the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care.

Forty states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have effective medical cannabis laws. In addition, two states have more restrictive laws that allow in-state distribution of federally illegal cannabis-based products with lower amounts of THC: Iowa and Georgia.

If you live in a state that still prohibits cannabis and no lawmakers have taken the lead to change that, send your state legislators a note to ask them to stand up for humane and sensible cannabis policies. Take a few moments to email them in support of medical cannabis, decriminalization, or legalizing and regulating cannabis.

MPP has webpages for each individual state, which you can access here. They include a snapshot of cannabis policies in the state, along with additional bills, courtesy of Bill Track 50. These include proposals to improve (or undermine) existing legalization, medical cannabis, and decriminalization laws.

2026 may see ballot measures both to expand cannabis freedoms and to roll progress back. Here are some of the proposed measures:

• Florida, legalization — Smart & Safe Florida has submitted over a million signatures to refer a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis to voters; to pass, it would need 60% of the vote.
• Idaho, medical cannabis — The Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho is circulating petitions for a proposal to allow safe access to medical cannabis.
• Arizona, Maine, and Massachusetts — Prohibitionists are trying to qualify ballot initiatives that would return to the dark days of prohibition. All three measures would repeal regulated, adult-use sales of cannabis, driving those sales underground and across state lines.
• Idaho, blocking future legalization — Legislators referred a constitutional amendment (HJR 4) to the ballot that would strip voters of the ability to legalize currently prohibited drugs in the future, including cannabis.