State rankings
Recreational Weed States
Ohio has the highest Year Legalized (2023), followed by Minnesota (2023) and Delaware (2023). Colorado has the lowest (2012).
Year LegalizedBetter directionWhether a higher or a lower value is better. A green arrow means higher is better, a red arrow means lower is better, and no arrow means neither.More in the glossary →
24 of 51 statesYear Legalized
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
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All 24 ranked
Highest first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
2020
Middle half 2016 – 2021
Average
2019
24 states
Highest
2023
Ohio
Lowest
2012
Colorado
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
50 states · # = rank by Year Legalized
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ohio | Yes | 2023 |
| 1 |  Minnesota | Yes | 2023 |
| 1 |  Delaware | Yes | 2023 |
| 4 |  Missouri | Yes | 2022 |
| 4 |  Maryland | Yes | 2022 |
| 4 |  Rhode Island | Yes | 2022 |
| 7 |  New York | Yes | 2021 |
| 7 |  Virginia | Yes | 2021 |
| 7 |  Connecticut | Yes | 2021 |
| 7 |  New Mexico | Yes | 2021 |
| 11 |  New Jersey | Yes | 2020 |
| 11 |  Arizona | Yes | 2020 |
| 11 |  Montana | Yes | 2020 |
| 14 |  Illinois | Yes | 2019 |
| 15 |  Michigan | Yes | 2018 |
| 15 |  Vermont | Yes | 2018 |
| 17 |  California | Yes | 2016 |
| 17 |  Massachusetts | Yes | 2016 |
| 17 |  Nevada | Yes | 2016 |
| 17 |  Maine | Yes | 2016 |
| 21 |  Oregon | Yes | 2015 |
| 21 |  Alaska | Yes | 2015 |
| 23 |  Washington | Yes | 2012 |
| 23 |  Colorado | Yes | 2012 |
| — |  Texas | No | — |
| — |  Florida | No | — |
| — |  Pennsylvania | No | — |
| — |  Georgia | No | — |
| — |  North Carolina | No | — |
| — |  Tennessee | No | — |
| — |  Indiana | No | — |
| — |  Wisconsin | No | — |
| — |  South Carolina | No | — |
| — |  Alabama | No | — |
| — |  Kentucky | No | — |
| — |  Louisiana | No | — |
| — |  Oklahoma | No | — |
| — |  Utah | No | — |
| — |  Iowa | No | — |
| — |  Arkansas | No | — |
| — |  Kansas | No | — |
| — |  Mississippi | No | — |
| — |  Idaho | No | — |
| — |  Nebraska | No | — |
| — |  West Virginia | No | — |
| — |  Hawaii | No | — |
| — |  New Hampshire | No | — |
| — |  South Dakota | No | — |
| — |  North Dakota | No | — |
| — |  Wyoming | No | — |
What correlates with Year Legalized?
Pearson r against 2,116 other state metrics sharing at least 15 states. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Year Legalized tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Year Legalized tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Year Legalized?
- Ohio has the highest Year Legalized, at 2023, followed by Minnesota (2023) and Delaware (2023).
- Which state has the lowest Year Legalized?
- Colorado has the lowest Year Legalized, at 2012.
- What is the median Year Legalized across US states?
- The median is 2020 across the 24 US states with data.
- Where does this recreational weed states data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Where is Marijuana Legal - US News; Marijuana Legality by State - DISA; Which States Allow You To Grow Your Own Recreational Or Medical Cannabis - Cannabiz Media; Cannabis sales for all adults (21+up) to start on Qualla Boundary next month - Cannabis Control Board, EBCI.