🌬 Is your state voting to legalize weed?

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A Note From Kelly Anne

Marijuana legalization is big business. In 2021, marijuana sales in Colorado alone topped $2 billion. Other states are now trying to get a slice of the cannabis pie by putting marijuana-related proposals on their midterm ballots. Read on to find out if your state is on the list.

Best,

Kelly Anne

Senior Staff Writer

Consumer Finance

These 5 States Have Weed Legalization On Their Midterm Ballots

Though pot remains illegal at the federal level, more and more states are legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use. Voters in five states can expect to see marijuana legalization provisions on their midterm ballots this year: Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Many of these states have already implemented medical marijuana programs. But these new provisions will allow adults to carry and use cannabis recreationally—no medical card needed. In Arkansas, for example, the initiative would allow people age 21 and up to possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use. It would also increase the number of dispensaries and cultivators allowed in the state.

Advocates say legalizing recreational marijuana is another step forward in decriminalizing pot, which is classified as a Schedule I drug (the same classification group as heroin). Marijuana-related convictions disproportionately affect Black and brown Americans despite usage rates being similar to that of white Americans, and advocates say allowing recreational use would reduce that conviction rate.

Should all five states pass these initiatives, nearly half of the country (24 states and the District of Columbia) will permit recreational marijuana consumption.

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