It’s been an eventful week for the marijuana industry. After years of false starts, New York legalized the use of recreational marijuana on March 31 - just hours later, New Mexico legislators passed a bill to do the same. Meanwhile, Mexico is expected to legalize recreational marijuana later this month and, with a population of 120 million, is poised to become the biggest marijuana market in the world. If Mexico’s bill is enacted into law, Mexico would become the third country after Uruguay and Canada to legalize marijuana nationally. With these developments, many are asking: Is marijuana legalization at the federal level on the horizon?
Amid growing public support, momentum at the state level, and the shift of power in Washington, the prospects for marijuana reform legislation are as elevated as they have ever been. Last year, public support for legalization of marijuana in the United States hit a record 68%, and voters in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota approved ballot initiatives to legalize the cultivation, use and distribution of marijuana. In total, 47 states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of marijuana use. Sixteen states have legalized recreational marijuana, while 36 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. With US marijuana sales hitting $18.3 billion last year - a 71% increase in revenue over 2019 - several more states are looking to marijuana legalization to increase revenue. In recent weeks, governors in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have renewed calls or introduced proposals to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana, in part to raise revenue to fill COVID-19-related budget holes.
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