By Niraj Chokshi October 9 at 4:20 pm
Kristi Kelly, co-founder of medical-marijuana dispensary Good Meds Network in Colorado. (Matthew Staver/The Washington Post.)
While Washington and Colorado work out how to regulate marijuana sales — as we reported this morning — at least 11 other states are considering legalizing it for recreational use, according to an analysis from Thomson Reuters’ WestlawNext.
Using marijuana for medicinal purposes is already legal in nearly half the country — 24 states and the District of Columbia — the analysis shows. Another 16 states have proposed legislation allowing it. Just 10 states have no proposals whatsoever to legalize pot for either use, and Idaho has passed a law making clear its opposition to legalization.
So far this year, marijuana has been mentioned in 1,730 pieces of legislation — a significant increase over the past four years relative to other drugs — according to WestlawNext. By comparison, cocaine got 723 mentions this year, peyote got 168 and hemp only got 117. (That’s all as of Sept. 22, 2013, and includes introduced, substituted and adopted versions of the same bill.) Drug mentions in state legislation. (Source: WestlawNext data. Note: Data as of Sept. 22, 2013. Counts include introduced, substittued and adopted versions of the same bill.)
(Source: WestlawNext. Data as of Sept. 22, 2013; counts include introduced, substituted and adopted versions of the same bill.)
Here are a handful of other interesting facts about marijuana proposals across the country, courtesy of WestlawNext:
New Mexico, Rhode Island and West Virginia have commissioned studies to investigate the impact of legalizing pot. The proposals all suggest a cutoff age of 21. Most proposals give regulatory authority to the state’s revenue, tax or liquor control agencies. Just two states, Maine and Massachusetts, propose creating new regulatory bodies Pot taxes range from 15 percent in New Hampshire to 25 percent in Nevada. (A Maine proposal would tax it at $50 per ounce.)
Here’s a map of proposals by state. Green states have enacted or proposed legislation allowing medicinal use; states with pot plants on them have enacted or proposed legislation allowing recreational use.
For the curious, the 24 states that allow marijuana for medicinal use are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Washington, D.C., has legalized medicinal marijuana, too.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/10/09/marijuana-has-been-mentioned-in-1730-pieces-of-state-legislation-this-year/
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Carl Sagan - "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." --- Robert Pirsig - "When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion." --- Brian Cox - "[One] problem with today’s world is that everyone believes they have the right to express their opinion AND have others listen to it. The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense."
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Whatever there's still more important issues for the feds. Like where are we gonna house all these drug users? There isn't enough prisons for these people, we probably will have to start letting violent criminals out to make room for these people.
-------------------- I'm addicted to coke, weed, booze, ludes and speed. Not LSD, you can't get addicted to LSD, it was built by scientists. I ain't got no demons that gonna get woke. In erowid we trust. Just take your damn pills and don't ask any questions, you'll be fine.
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