The state of marijuana legalization: a 50-state guide to the legality of pot.

• Author: Ross, John K.

THE MARCH TOWARD marijuana legalization is accelerating faster than many of the most optimistic drug reformers previously thought possible. Just 14 months after voters in California rejected a historic proposition to lift state prohibitions on recreational pot, the stuff is now for sale over the counter in Colorado and Washington, with the U.S. Department of Justice currently tolerating nearly all of the federally prohibited transactions.

At least 14 states are on pace to consider full legalization, either at the ballot box or in state legislatures, during this calendar year. Medical marijuana is also on the table in 17 states. Eight states are considering decriminalizing possession, replacing criminal penalties with civil fines.

Of the 18 states that do not have a pot push underway this year, nine have already OKed either medical marijuana or decriminalization. Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are preparing bills that would drastically reduce drug-related federal sentences, provide legal clarity to banks lending to marijuana-related businesses, and lift the prohibition on industrial hemp.

To give a snapshot of where marijuana freedom is heading for in the near term, reason presents a 50-state guide to weed legislation and ballot measures currently in the works. This list leans heavily on reportage from 'The Daily Chronic and a report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), The War on Marijuana in Black and White.

Proposed Marijuana Bills/Initiatives in 2014

Recreational Marijuana Legal

Proposed Medical Marijuana in 2014

Proposed Recreational Marijuana in 2014

Proposed Marijuana Decriminalization in 2014

Maps by Isaac Reese

Alabama--Decriminalization

A bill called HB 76, sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham), would reduce the penalty for first-time possession of an ounce or less of pot to a civil fine that won't appear on criminal records. Additionally, Todd is sponsoring HB 104 with Rep. Allen Farley (R-Jefferson) and Rep. Mike Ball (R-Madison), a former state trooper. It would allow patients with serious neurological conditions, or their parents, to seek relaxed sentencing when prosecuted for possession. A similar bill (SB 174) reached the Senate floor in early February. "The parents that want to help their children are not criminals," police officer Dustin Chandler, whose daughter is the inspiration for the bills, told AL.com. "It's an issue of doing the right thing for the children of Alabama."

CURRENT LAW

Recreational: No

Medical: No

Decriminalization: No

Arrests in 2010 for marijuana possession: 5,235

Alaska--Recreational

State election officials announced in January that an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana has reached the required number of signatures. There are still more signatures to be verified, but at this point it looks like a near certainty that the measure will qualify for the August ballot. "It's clear to everyone that prohibition is a failed policy," initiative co-sponsor Tim Hinterberger, a professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage's School of Medical Education, told The Washington Post.

CURRENT LAW

Recreational: No

Medical: Yes

Decriminalization: Yes

Arrests in 2010 for marijuana possession: 2,028

Arizona--Recreational, Decriminalization

Activists are gathering signatures to place a measure legalizing recreational use on the November 2014 ballot. Preliminary word, according to The Daily Chronic, is that signature gathering is behind schedule and financial backing is lacking, making a 2016 initiative push more likely. Lawmakers, meanwhile, have introduced separate bills that legalize recreational use (HB 2558) and decriminalize possession (HB 2474). One flaw in Arizona's existing medical marijuana law made national news last year after an appeals court convicted an unimpaired patient for driving under the influence. The court ruled that state lawmakers intended to criminalize driving for weeks after marijuana ingestion, well after any psycho active effects have worn off. The Arizona Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case last November but has not issued a ruling.

CURRENT LAW

Recreational: No

Medical: Yes

Decriminalization: No

Arrests in 2010 for marijuana possession: 18,348

Arkansas--Medical

Campaigners are gathering signatures for two medical marijuana initiatives. Both measures would allow patients to buy from nonprofit dispensaries; one would allow patients to grow their own if there is no dispensary near their home. If voters approve both, the one with the most votes wins. Last fall, the Arkansas Baptist State Convention passed a resolution urging pastors to oppose medical marijuana from the pulpit, calling legalization "poor policy...based on bad science."

CURRENT LAW

Recreational: No

Medical: No

Decriminalization: No

Arrests in 2010 for marijuana possession: 6,310

California--Recreational

While a group of prominent legalization proponents has decided to focus on a ballot push in 2016, two other organizations are trying to gather enough signatures to put legalization to voters this November. Supporters must gather 500,000 signatures by April to qualify for the November ballot. At least one of the measures could save taxpayers an estimated $100 million a year in police, court, and prison costs, according to the state attorney general. California voters approved medical marijuana in 1996, but the intervening years, especially during the tenure of President Barack Obama, have been a rough ride for dispensary owners, who have found themselves on the receiving end of federal raids, asset forfeiture, and lengthy prison sentences.

CURRENT LAW

Recreational: No

Medical: Yes

Decriminalization: Yes

Arrests in 2010 for marijuana possession: 57,262

Colorado--Regulated Freedom

Activists, regulators, and politicians are hashing out a post-prohibition regulatory regime. Proponents sold legalization as a bid to treat marijuana like alcohol, so it should not surprise that there are some tricky practical issues still being worked out. After all, states are still tinkering with their alcohol control systems many decades after killing Prohibition.

CURRENT LAW

Recreational: Yes

Medical: Yes

Decriminalization: Yes

Arrests in 2010 for marijuana possession: 10,343, which cost taxpayers an estimated $38 million in incarceration, police, judicial, and legal expenses, a figure that does not include losses to individuals arrested. Outlook for 2014: zero arrests for possession, zero related legal expenses, plus millions in new tax revenue.

Connecticut--Nothing

Medical marijuana got the OK in Connecticut in 2012, but will not go on sale until this summer. "We're hoping that a competitive market produces prices that are as close to the cost of production as we can get them," consumer protection commissioner William Rubenstein told the New Haven Register. In the meantime, police recently busted William Bradley, who claims to have terminal cancer, for growing his own (and broadcasting that fact on YouTube).

CURRENT LAW

Recreational: No

Medical: Yes

Decriminalization: Yes

Arrests in 2010 for marijuana possession: 8,815

Delaware--Nothing

Delaware approved medical marijuana in 2011, but state officials are still hammering out details. Last fall, regulators proposed limiting sales to a single dispensary that's allowed to grow only 150 plants, meaning long commutes and an unsteady supply for many patients. The proposed rules fly in the face of official pronouncements. In August, Gov. Jack Markell (D) wrote that "the sensible and humane aim of state policy in Delaware remains to ensure that medical marijuana is accessible via a safe, well-regulated channel of distribution to patients with demonstrated medical need."

CURRENT LAW

Recreational: No

Medical: Yes

Decriminalization: No

Arrests in 2010 for marijuana possession: 2,554

District of Columbia--Recreational, Decriminalization

In February 2014, city council members preliminarily approved a decriminalization bill that replaces criminal penalties for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana with a $25 civil fine. The bill was scheduled for a final vote in March. According to a April 2013 survey conducted by Public Policy Polling, 75 percent of D.C. residents support decriminalization, and 63 percent support legalizing recreational use, which could go on the ballot as soon as November. Activists have filed language for a referendum on the latter and are now gathering signatures.

CURRENT LAW

Recreational: No

Medical: Yes

Decriminalization: No

Arrests in 2010 for marijuana possession: 5,115. Even though whites and blacks use marijuana at similar rates, African Americans are eight times more likely to be arrested for possession in D.C., according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Florida--Medical

In January, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a ballot initiative legalizing medical marijuana meets all the relevant legal requirements, clearing the way for residents to vote on the issue this November. In...