We’ve come a long way since marijuana was first decriminalized in Oregon in 1973. Here’s a state-by-state breakdown of laws pertaining to marijuana and psychedelic drugs. 

Marijuana Legalization

(24): 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, Washington (also Washington, DC)

Marijuana Decriminalization

(6): Hawaii, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota

Medical Marijuana Legalization

(39): Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,  Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia (also, Washington, DC)

Medical Marijuana Legalization – CBD Oil Only

(10): Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Hemp Legalization

Hemp is now federally legal. Only two states in the country – Idaho and Mississippi – do not allow cultivation of hemp for commercial, research or pilot programs.

Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC Prohibition

Derived from hemp, Delta-8 THC is illegal in the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, MIssissippi, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington.

Cities That Have Decriminalized or Depenalized Marijuana

(52): Allentown, PA; Ann Arbor, MI; Athens, GA; Athens, OH; Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Bellaire, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Cocoa Beach, FL; Columbia, MO; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Dayton, OH; Daytona Beach, FL; Denton, TX; Eau Claire, WI; Elgin, TX; El Paso, TX; Fremont, OH; Harker Heights, TX; Harrisburg, PA; Kansas City, MO; Kenosha, WI; Killeee, TX; Lancaster, PA; Lawrence, KS; Logan, OH; Miami, FL; Milwaukee, WI; Monona, WI; Mount Pleasant, MI; New Orleans, LA; Newark, OH; Norwood, OH; New Orleans, LA; Oregon, OH; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Racine, WI; Roseville, OH; Saginaw, MI; San Marcos, TX; Savannah, GA; State College, PA; Tampa, FL; Toledo, OH; Tucsaloosa, AL; Wichita, KS; Windham, OH; York, PA

Cities That Have Made Marijuana Arrests the Lowest Depriority

(6): Eureka Springs, AR; Fayetteville, AR; Hailey; ID; Little Rock, AR; Louisville, KY; Tampa, FL

States That Have Decriminalized Entheogenic Plants (including Magic Mushrooms)

(3): Colorado, New Jersey*, New Mexico, Oregon, 

*possessing an ounce or less of mushrooms is now a disorderly-persons offense 

Cities That Have Decriminalized Entheogenic Plants (including Magic Mushrooms)

(9): Ann Arbor, MI; Cambridge, MA; Denver, CO; Oakland, CA; San Francisco, CA; Santa Cruz, CA; Somerville, MA; Vancouver, BC; Washington, DC

States That Have Decriminalized All Drugs

(1): Oregon*

*this law was repealed in 2024

Countries That Have Legalized Marijuana

(9): Canada, Georgia, Germany, Luxemburg, Malta, Mexico, South Africa Thailand, Uruguay

Countries That Have Decriminalized All Drugs

(1): Portugal

State-by-State

Alabama: med

Alaska: rec, med

Arizona: rec, med

Arkansas: med

California: rec, med, 

Colorado: rec, med, psychedelics

Connecticut: rec, med

Delaware: rec, med

Florida: med

Georgia: CBD

Hawaii: decrim, med, hemp

Idaho: none

Illinois: rec, med

Indiana: CBD

Iowa: CBD

Kansas: CBD

Kentucky: med

Louisiana: med

Maine: rec, med

Maryland: rec, med

Massachusetts: rec, med

Michigan: rec, med

Minnesota: rec med

Mississippi: decrim, med

Missouri: rec, med

Montana: rec, med

Nebraska: decrim, med

Nevada: rec, med

New Hampshire: decrim, med

New Jersey: rec, med

New Mexico: rec, med

New York: rec med

North Carolina: decrim, CBD

North Dakota: decrim, med

Ohio: rec, med

Oklahoma: med

Oregon: rec, med, drug decrim, psychedelics

Pennsylvania: med

Rhode Island: rec, med

South Carolina: CBD

South Dakota: med

Tennessee: CBD

Texas: CBD

Utah: med

Vermont: rec, med

Virginia: rec, med

Washington: rec, med

West Virginia: med

Wisconsin: CBD

Wyoming: CBD

Washington, DC: rec, med

Legend: Rec = recreational or adult use; Med = medical 

For specific information about each state, go here. For a map, go here.

Become a Patron!

Steve Bloom

Publisher of CelebStoner.com, former editor of High Times and Freedom Leaf and co-author of Pot Culture and Reefer Movie Madness.

A 71-year-old woman walks into a cannabis dispensary. She recently got her medical marijuana card, and she wants to branch out beyond just topicals. But she doesn’t want to inhale smoke. She also doesn’t want to eat anything with a lot of sugar in it, due to her acid reflux, or feel too “head high” from cannabis.

Apothecarium Green budtender Susan Boykin was at the inaugural Mississippi Budtender Awards and Competition Show in Biloxi at the end of last month when she first heard this scenario. Based on her experience behind her dispensary’s counter and careful study leading up to the competition, she knew exactly what she would tell the patient.

“I would tell her some gummies are sugar-free,” Boykin told The Dispatch on Thursday. “… And I would probably turn her toward Ripple powder packs. They’re gluten free, non-GMO, sugar free and tasteless. So she could put it in her coffee or juice. She could do whatever she wants and still get that – not head high – as much as body feeling, not hurting so much.”

Budtenders work in dispensaries, guiding those with medical marijuana cards toward ingestion methods that are right for their needs.

With answers like the one she gave, Boykin took home first place in the individual category of the competition in Biloxi, including a $1,000 prize. She was also a nominee for the Budtender of the Year award.

But answering questions like that is also a part of what Boykin loves doing daily behind the counter of Apothecarium Green. She said she first stepped behind the counter at the dispensary a little more than a year ago, as a way to help others who may need help with health issues that could be relieved by cannabis.

“I knew how much it helped people,” Boykin said. “I’ve had lots of friends that have had to move to California or Colorado because their children (need) it for epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, things like that.”

State law says that medical marijuana can only be purchased by medical cardholders from licensed dispensaries. Currently, Boykin said, there are 23 qualifying conditions to receive a medical marijuana card, including chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder – both which she commonly sees from behind the counter.

That means Boykin recommends products based on a patient’s needs, from papers and lighters to pipes, bongs, gummies, tinctures, spreads, powders, seltzers and other food additives. There are even sprays that can be applied to the inside of a cheek, Boykin said, if a patient has trouble with chewing and swallowing.

Budtender training requirements

Under state law, patients are allowed up to 24 Medical Cannabis Equivalency Units of cannabis each month. One MCEU is equivalent to 3.5 grams of flower, one gram of concentrate and up to 100 mg of THC infused products. Budtenders must know how to calculate the amount of cannabis sold to a patient across all of their ingestion types, Boykin said.

Boykin said she always tries to keep the individual in mind as they choose what’s best for them.

If a client still has fears or anxiety around taking cannabis, such as an older client, she typically advises them that they don’t have to smoke at all if they don’t want to, instead giving options to “taking it low and slow.”

“They crave the knowledge, and I love that we’re able to give that,” Boykin said.

Individuals working at a medical cannabis dispensary, including budtenders, are required to obtain work permits and eight hours of training, along with five hours of training annually.

Mississippi Budtender Awards and Mississippi Cannabis School Founder Candace McClendon said education has been “the heart of what we do,” since the program started in 2022.

“It’s important for budtenders to know what’s legal and what’s illegal,” McClendon said. “… And we definitely want budtenders to know about terpenes and how the endocannabanoid system supports the products that we have on the market. And also, just how to be patient friendly, what I call patient focused.”

Terpenes are naturally occurring chemical compounds found in plants and animals. The endocannabanoid system includes both receptors and proteins in the body that interact with cannabinoids – the active compounds in cannabis.

McClendon said budtenders, owners and management from 42 dispensaries across Mississippi were present for the first year of the awards. Budtenders showed both their passion for patients and knowledge of cannabis products by answering questions and working through real-life scenarios, like the one Boykin remembered.

Apothecarium Green is co-owned by Sophia Kibe and Corey Herring. Herring said it was really impressive to see Boykin move through the rounds of the competition, “setting herself apart” with her answers and knowledge. But he said the client-centered approach is something that all of the budtenders at the dispensary try to bring to all of their interactions.

“We strive to help the patient with the product,” Herring said. “The only way you can really do that is, one, care. And two, listen to what they say, and help them figure out what … would be the best terpene profile to help with the concern that they’re having, whether it be sleep apnea, neuropathy, pain… and there’s so much more than that.”

Both he and Kibe were proud that Boykin won, bringing her victory back to the city, Herring said.

“There were a lot of people in this competition, and a lot of big name brand companies, and we were elated to be able to take the victory home to a small shop in Columbus, Mississippi,” he said.

What Do You Think?

The use of an illegal drug can easily put an end to a worker’s compensation claim if there is evidence that the drug played a role in the injury. In Mississippi, if there is THC in an employee’s blood at the time of the accident, that employee has a difficult burden if he hopes to recover benefits; he’ll have to prove that the drug did not contribute to the accident.

In one case, a house framer was nailing wood when he fell through a gap in the roof. The gap was two feet by four feet–the kind of hole that, according to a supervisor, would be hard to fall through because one could put one’s arms out and catch oneself on the rafters before falling all the way through. Still, the supervisor said, the framer didn’t appear under the influence when he found him lying on the ground and called an ambulance.

At the hospital that same afternoon, a blood test found THC in the employee’s system. According to the framer, that had nothing to do with his fall. After all, he hadn’t smoked it for at least two weeks. He explained that he was taking it for PTSD related to his time in the military and because he was stressed out about a child support hearing that was scheduled to occur after the accident.  

The supervisor also said he was out during lunch and didn’t see the framer during that time, which was just before the fall happened. But the framer denied smoking marijuana during lunch.

The company denied the claim on the basis that THC, illegal in Mississippi, contributed to the injury.

Mississippi law provides that a worker is not entitled to compensation if the use of illegal drugs caused the accident. Further, if the employee tests positive for the presence, at the time of injury, of any drug illegally used, it will be presumed that the drug caused the injury. When that’s the case, the injury is not compensable, unless the employee proves that the drug played no role in the injury.

Were the framer’s injuries compensable?

A. No. The framer’s arguments that he wasn’t affected by THC at the time of the fall were just speculation; he provided no hard evidence.

B. Yes. No one saw him smoking marijuana.

If you selected A, you agreed with the court in Ladner v. Hinton Homes, LLC, No. No. 2024-WC-00941-COA (Miss. Ct. App. 05/06/25), which held that the employee failed to prove that marijuana did not contribute to the injury.

For more courts and compliance info from around the country, check out Simply Research

The court pointed out that the employee tested positive for THC, which is illegal in Mississippi, on the same day of the accident. While he claimed he hadn’t smoked marijuana for weeks, he also said that the child support hearing was making him stressed and was one of the reasons he smoked it. That hearing was still pending at the time of the accident, suggesting that he could have been continuing to smoke it for that same reason. Further, the supervisor didn’t observe him during lunch, leaving open the possibility that the framer smoked during that time, prior to going back on the roof and falling. 

Further, the size of the hole through which he fell suggested that he may have been affected by THC to the point that he could not stop himself from falling through it.

While the supervisor didn’t think the framer looked to be under the influence, the supervisor was involved in an emergency situation, and so could hardly have been expected to make clear observations on that issue.

Finally, the framer’s statements that the THC in his system did not cause the fall were merely speculative. He provided no specific evidence to overcome the presumption that the drug caused the injury.

The court upheld the denial of the claim.