How do marijuana laws differ between states?
As of April 2026, recreational cannabis is legal in 24 states and Washington, DC, while medical marijuana has been legalized in an additional 16 states.
While marijuana remains illegal at the federal level per the 1970 Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the US has become a patchwork of state-determined laws pertaining to the drug. Some states have legalized recreational marijuana, others allow medicinal use and/or CBD oil. A few states have decriminalized the plant, and a handful follow the federal guidelines.
What does marijuana legalization mean?
In the United States, marijuana legalization refers to the process of making marijuana use, possession, and sales legal under certain conditions. Adults in states where the drug is legal can use it for both medical and recreational purposes, following state laws.
Legalization allows for regulated sales of products that contain cannabidiol (CBD) and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Medical cannabis laws also fall under this category, permitting patients with conditions such as chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, and depression to use the substances for treatment.
Since marijuana remains federally classified as an illegal drug, state legalization has many implications on federal income taxes filed by dispensaries, as well as the cross-border sale and transportation of cannabis products.
Which states have legalized marijuana?
State cannabis legalization can be defined several ways, ranging from fully illegal to legal for both medicinal and recreational use. For this article, USAFacts defined four legalization levels to help explain how they vary by state: recreational, medical, CBD only, and fully illegal.
24 states and Washington, DC, have legalized recreational marijuana use.
Legal status of marijuana by state, April 2026
Recreational
States that have legalized recreational marijuana have guaranteed adults 21 and older the right to use cannabis products for personal enjoyment rather than for strictly health benefits.
As of April 2026, 24 states and Washington, DC, have legalized recreational marijuana. Ohio was the latest state to legalize recreational marijuana, when voters approved Issue 2 in the November 2023 election.
Marijuana legalization use does not always mean it’s legal to purchase. For example, it is illegal to buy marijuana recreationally in Washington, DC, but it’s legal for anyone 21 and older to possess up to two ounces of it, grow up to six marijuana plants in the district (with up to three in the mature flowering stage), and gift up to an ounce of marijuana to anyone 21 years or older as long as no sales or trades occur.
Medical
Legalizing medical marijuana means the state has established a medical framework that allows doctors to recommend marijuana for a wide range of conditions, including pain, nausea, depression, anxiety, and PTSD. States determine the medical conditions for which physicians can prescribe cannabis and cannabinoids.
As of April 2026, 40 states and Washington, DC, have legalized medical marijuana. However, there’s a caveat to this. Some states have only legalized medical marijuana with the CBD compound while retaining laws that prevent the distribution of high-THC medical cannabis.
CBD only
Eight states have limited medical marijuana to include only CBD products as of April 2026. Legalized medical marijuana primarily includes CBD compounds rather than THC compounds, though these products can still have low-THC levels. Unlike THC, CBD is not psychoactive. CBD products may include lotions, oils, sprays, gummies, and food products.
Fully illegal
As of April 2026, marijuana is still illegal in two states, Idaho and Kansas. People there cannot obtain medical or recreational cannabis in any form.
These states have raised legislative measures in recent years to either begin medical or recreational legalization: House Joint Resolution 4 in Idaho and Senate Bill 294 in Kansas.
How do federal drug laws impact states?
In April 2026, the Justice Department eased the classification level of approved marijuana products from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA. Schedule I drugs have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse (think heroin, LSD, and ecstasy), while Schedule III drugs have a low to moderate potential for physical and psychological dependence (think ketamine and anabolic steroids). A hearing beginning in June 2026 could determine whether marijuana itself will be reclassified as Schedule III.
The reclassification does not legalize the drug. Under the CSA, federal law continues to prohibit cannabis sale and use. In states where marijuana has been legalized for recreational use, those state laws conflict with federal law.
Marijuana retail businesses, therefore, must remain in jurisdictions where marijuana is legal. The marijuana that a business sells must be grown, sold, used, and taxed within state lines without using any federal land or means of commerce. This presents several complications, including preventing cannabis businesses from using banks (which are federally regulated), deducting business expenses on their federal income taxes (which other businesses are allowed to do), and preventing farmers from using water from federally managed resources.
Several recent proposals would remove marijuana from CSA control. For instance, the MORE Act would remove marijuana and THC from the CSA and require expungement of past convictions for many federal marijuana offenses.
Among other things, it would also remove some collateral consequences for marijuana-related activities, impose a 5% tax on cannabis products, and use revenues from the tax to fund grant programs for "certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.” The MORE Act passed the House in April 2022, but was stalled in the Senate. It was introduced in the upper chamber in 2025.
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Page sources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Marijuana and Public Health
US Drug Enforcement Agency
The Controlled Substances Act
