Cannabis Legalization News

Lawmakers in two Hawaii House committees have advanced a bill to legalize cannabis and establish a regulated adult-use marketplace.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) included the legalization of adult-use cannabis in his 2025-2026 budget proposal.

A new proposal in the Tennessee Legislature seeks to legalize cannabis for adults aged 21+, set a 15% excise tax on sales, and allow for the home cultivation of up to 12 plants.

Both chambers of the Virginia Legislature have passed bills this session to legalize adult-use cannabis sales. The governor, however, has said he will veto any legislation containing regulations for a cannabis marketplace — as he did last year.

Missouri courts have expunged more than 140,000 cannabis criminal cases under the state’s 2022 constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use cannabis.

New legislation introduced in Hawaii seeks to legalize adult-use cannabis and establish the Hawaii Cannabis and Hemp Office, which would oversee the state’s medical cannabis and hemp businesses alongside its future adult-use industry.

Nebraska state lawmakers are beginning to plan for the medical cannabis program approved by voters last November.

Some Kentucky Democrats have introduced bills to put an adult-use cannabis legalization question to voters during the next general election in 2026. The constitutional amendment would legalize cannabis home grows and establish a taxed-and-regulated marketplace.

A group of GOP lawmakers in Indiana have proposed a bill to legalize cannabis and regulate its production and sale throughout the state. If approved, Indiana would be the first state to jump from prohibition straight to an adult-use program.

Despite falling short of the 60% voter support required to adopt a Constitutional Amendment in Florida, advocates are gearing up for a new cannabis legalization campaign in the Sunshine State, aiming to appear on voter ballots in 2026.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) wants to change state law to allow citizen-led ballot initiatives, arguing that if the GOP-controlled Legislature won’t pass legislation or ask voters to weigh in on popular issues like reforming cannabis laws, then citizens should be allowed to take action in their place.

The Kentucky medical cannabis program officially launched on January 1, 2025, after months of licensing lotteries and cannabis patient registrations. Patients must be approved for the program by their physician.

Texas State Rep. Jessica González (D) has introduced a broad adult-use cannabis legalization bill that would create a licensing system for cannabis businesses and impose a 10% excise tax on sales.

Ohio regulators are reviewing a proposal to allow pre-rolled cannabis sales, signaling potential growth and diversification in the state’s cannabis market.

Nearly 60% of German citizens support the broad legalization of adult-use cannabis, according to a recent poll. Cannabis is currently legal for adults to possess and consume but the country stopped short of establishing a regulated marketplace.

The annual Monitoring the Future Survey found that the use of cannabis by American teenagers continued to decline in 2024 even as more and more states enacted adult-use legalization reforms.

Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein says she will introduce legislation to legalize medical cannabis next session after the Democrats gained four seats in the chamber, ending a Republican supermajority.

Canadian officials last month missed the legislated deadline to implement a program for the mass pardoning of citizen cannabis possession records.

One of the plaintiffs in the recently dismissed lawsuit that aimed to invalidate the petitions behind Nebraska’s successful medical cannabis legalization effort has filed another suit seeking to block the reforms.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says cannabis legalization should be a top priority for the state next year, although the idea is unpopular in the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are planning to introduce adult-use cannabis legalization legislation again in the upcoming legislative session after a bipartisan proposal failed during the last session.

South Dakota voters on Tuesday rejected the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization initiative.