Three more states will allow adults to legally smoke weed this week

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Adult cannabis use laws are going into effect in three more US states this week, legalizing nearly half of the entire country.

New Mexico will be the first state to celebrate legalization this week. On Tuesday June 29th, adults can legally own up to two ounces of weed and grow up to six plants for their personal use. The state’s new adult use law, passed in a special session this April, also creates a regulated retail market, but sales are not set to begin until this April.

On Thursday, July 1, Virginia and Connecticut will also end the decade-long cannabis ban. Just days after New Mexico passed its legalization bill, Virginia became the first southern state to legalize recreational pot. Under this new law, adults can own up to an ounce of pot and grow up to four plants per household.

The original version of this bill would not have come into effect until January 1, 2024, but Governor Ralph Northam refused to sign it unless lawmakers changed the date. In April, lawmakers agreed to make personal possession and use legal from July this year, but the retail launch date remains unchanged. So Virginians will likely have to wait three years before they can legally purchase cannabis in their home state.

Just last week, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont also signed adult use law. This law allows adults to legally own up to 1.5 ounces of weed or concentrate in public and up to 5 ounces in their home. Again, retail sales will be legal here, but are unlikely to begin until next summer. Medical cannabis patients will be allowed to grow their own flowers this fall, but other adults will have to wait until 2023.

July 1st was also supposed to be the day cannabis became legal for adults in South Dakota. But Governor Kristi Noem conspired with state police officers to challenge the voter-approved measure and eventually convinced the state Supreme Court to invalidate the measure. The case is under appeal, but a final decision is still months away.

Adults in New York and New Jersey also regained legal rights to smoke weed this year. New Jersey voters actually voted their adult use bill last fall, but it wasn’t until February of this year for lawmakers to pass a bill to regulate the new industry. Garden State adults can own up to six ounces of weed now, and legal sales could begin even later this year.

After years of failed legislative attempts, New York finally passed its own adult use law in March. This law went into effect immediately and allowed adults to have up to 3 ounces of flower or 24 grams of concentrate. Home growing of up to six plants is allowed, and adults are also legally allowed to store up to 5 pounds of weed in their homes. Unfortunately, legal sales are not expected to begin until December 2022.

Once these three new adult use laws go into effect this week, an estimated 145 million Americans, or 44 percent of the total population of the country, will live in a state where it is legal for adults to own and use cannabis.

“Legalization is now a reality for nearly half the US population,” said Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML. “As more jurisdictions implement these sound regulatory policies, it is imperative that Congress stop stalling federal law and amending federal law in ways that address this state-to-state divide and the will of voters in it respected growing number of states. “