With Ohio recently legalizing recreational marijuana, a majority of US residents now live in legal marijuana states, according to a new report.
Conducted by the firm Carnevale Associates, the report found that 53.1% of Americans live in states where recreational marijuana has been legalized. When it comes to medical marijuana, 245.9 million Americans – or 74% of the entire US population – live in states where it’s legal.
Carnevale Associates was founded by John Carnevale, an attorney who worked at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) over the course of three separate presidencies.
In total, the report found that there are 176,880,943 Americans living in legal recreational marijuana states, and 245,960,583 living in medical marijuana states.
“This brief provides an update to the status of state cannabis laws in the United States, following the November 2023 election”, states the report. “Although cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, 38 states and the District of Columbia have now legalized medical cannabis use, with 25 of those jurisdictions also legalizing non-medical (i.e., recreational) cannabis use. Overall, almost 74% of U.S. residents now live in a state with legalized medical or non-medical cannabis use.”
