“These moratoriums only serve to protect and prolong the illicit cannabis marketplace. Time and time again, we have seen that consumers prefer to obtain cannabis products from safe, licensed, above-ground retailers. But, absent access to such facilities, the illicit market will continue to fill this void.”
Forty-nine percent of respondents said that they have consumed cannabis – up from one-in-three Americans two decades ago. Twelve percent of respondents identify as current consumers of marijuana.
Authors collected data on the percentage of adults in each state who acknowledged having used cannabis within the last year. They then cross-referenced those percentages with the most recent population data from the U.S. Census Bureau to calculate the number of cannabis users per capita (per 100,000 residents) in each state.
United States Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), along with Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) unveiled draft legislation repealing the federal prohibition of marijuana at a press conference on Wednesday.
“Our results suggest that young adults who lived in an area with a greater density of any type of outlet were not significantly more likely to report stronger intentions to use cannabis, e-cigarettes, or cannabis mixed with tobacco/nicotine in the future.”
Just over 1,000 people were sentenced federally in 2020 for violating marijuana trafficking laws. That’s down 67 percent since 2016, and over 80 percent since 2012 – when Colorado and Washington became the first two states to legalize and regulate the adult-use marijuana market.
“Legalizing cannabis is about more than just allowing recreational use, or the money that can be made. This essential reform is about undoing a century of racist policies that disproportionately targeted Black and Latino communities.”
“With these actions by the Court, the United States has become an island of federal marijuana prohibition in North America,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said.