5 States Moving Ahead With Legalization in March and April

Writing on marijuana legalization means that you have to be kept in the loop at all times. Sure, these days it’s easy to predict where marijuana is going and how the whole country will turn green sooner rather than later. However, being psychic in that regard certainly wasn’t as easy 20-30 years ago when marijuana was still considered to be a gateway drug, well, according to popular opinion at least. Today, the ball is definitely rolling in terms of marijuana legalization. Let us remind you, this is not decriminalization we are talking about here but actual legalization. As recent polls have shown, the general public is supportive of marijuana legalization, as most people believe it is a better option than alcohol.

5 States Ahead Of Their Time

When you think about it for a second, you realize that DC, Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Colorado have got the upper hand in terms of marijuana legalization. These states have set precedents on how to implement marijuana regulations and they should not be ignored during the process. They have also made mistakes, and other states can learn from those mistakes on a daily basis. Let’s not drag California into this too much though, but let’s be aware of the failures that happened there and try not the repeat them again. We all clear on this?

Washington and Colorado have successfully implemented their regulations, even though the process was a bit mind-bending and ludicrous at the same time. But that’s just the way politics goes, slowly and not reassuringly. Considering the overwhelming support of the general public towards marijuana legalization, is safe to assume that the following five states are up next:

Maine – A new legalization bill is being prepared for this year and it still needs to be assigned to a committee. If the bill doesn’t pass this year, that will only be so because of the majority of Republicans that dominate one chamber, certainly not because of the lack of public support.

Massachusetts – Rep. David Rogers with his team of 13 sponsors have decided to push through the House Bill 1561. If this bill makes it, that means that it would legalized weed for anyone over 21 years of age and by doing so, a system would have to be put into place in order to regulate the sales and purchase of marijuana.

Rhode Island – Scott A. Slater, along with his buddy Joshua Miller, has introduced marijuana legalization legislation that would be treated in the same manner as Massachusetts, if it passes, of course. The bills in question are House Bill 510 and House Bill 5777.

Connecticut – the weight of weed legalization is currently on the shoulders of Juan Candelaria and Edwin Vargas, who are determined to end Connecticut’s marijuana prohibition era. They are proposing marijuana regulations for anyone over 21 years of age.

Vermont – Sen. David Zuckerman has a Senate Bill in his sleeve under the name Senate Bill 95. This would implement regulations for possession and consumption of marijuana. However, the future of the bill is a bit questionable so let’s just wait and see how this one turns out.