Over the last few years, both recreational and medical marijuana have taken legislatures in the United States by storm, leading to considerable confusion about where it’s okay to light up and where it’s still prohibited.
A new study recently conducted by DrugTreatment.com aims to clear the haze with a map illustrating the vastly different cannabis laws across the country. Some of these laws could land users in deep trouble if they’re not careful when traveling from one state to the next. That trouble likely won’t originate from the federal government, as on Wednesday the House voted again this year on an appropriations bill to prohibit the federal government from spending funds to prosecute states which to some extent permit the drug. (RELATED: House Blocks Department Of Justice From Interfering With State Medical Marijuana Laws)
Instead, many states, even ones that ostensibly look favorably on the drug, still come down hard on possession beyond a certain limit.
A total of 23 states and the District of Columbia have some form of legal marijuana, but of those 23 states, 10 and the District of Columbia have elected to drop possession of cannabis as a felony. In Colorado, the state most known for legalizing recreational marijuana in 2012, the story shifts slightly. While the possession and use of small amounts of the drug are legal, eight ounces of cannabis could result in a felony charge. Nearby states to Colorado are also not terribly friendly to the drug.
“An ounce in Colorado is legal,” the report notes. “Travel one state southwest and that same ounce will wreck your life.” That southwest state is Arizona, the strictest state on marijuana possession in the United States. Any amount of the drug whatsoever will result in a felony on the first charge.
Florida also treats possession severely, since holding more than 0.7 ounces could land the user a felony.
Even in a state like Washington, which allows for recreational marijuana, the possession of two ounces could lead to the same outcome.
Delaware, on the other hand, could care less about the number of ounces, in comparison. To receive an automatic felony charge on the first offense, a user would have to possess 173 ounces.
A felony means that it might be impossible to own a gun or serve as a police officer, and employment prospects drastically diminish.
As the report points out, “Having a felony on your record will significantly change your life for the worse, and depending on where you live, it may not take that much on the scales to bring down the hammer.”
See the entire map of state-by-state felony laws for marijuana possession here:
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