How many states have decriminalized drugs?

There are a number of states that have decriminalized marijuana, both for recreational and medicinal purposes. These states include Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York and Oregon. There are also several cities that have decriminalized marijuana in certain circumstances. This includes San Francisco and Seattle.

How many states have decriminalized drugs? There are a number of states that have decriminalized marijuana, both for recreational and medicinal purposes. These states include Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York and Oregon. There are also several cities that have decriminalized marijuana in certain circumstances. This includes San Francisco and Seattle.

If you want to learn more about cannabis laws in your state or city check out the NORML website at www.norml.org/marijuana

The question was, how many states have decriminalized marijuana? The answer is that it depends what you mean by “decriminalized.” Three states have legalized recreational use: Colorado, Washington and Alaska. A total of 20 states have medical marijuana laws on the books, including California and other big states like New York, Texas and Florida. But even that doesn’t mean everyone in those 20 states can smoke pot with impunity.

Some more detail: the first state to relax its marijuana laws was California in 1996; it passed a law allowing the sale of marijuana for medical purposes. That sounds like decriminalization, but in fact the law created a whole new bureaucracy for regulating medical weed. So it’s not entirely clear whether you could get away with smoking a joint just because you’ve got glaucoma or whatever—especially if you’re poor or black.