The use of both recreational and medicinal marijuana has been entirely legalized in the states of Colorado and Washington. The photo essay documents the cannabis legalization, the consumers and the new business model developed in the cities of Denver ad Seattle.
The use, possession, sale, cultivation, and transportation of cannabis (marijuana) in the United States under federal law is illegal but the federal government has announced that if a state wants to pass a law to...
more »The use of both recreational and medicinal marijuana has been entirely legalized in the states of Colorado and Washington. The photo essay documents the cannabis legalization, the consumers and the new business model developed in the cities of Denver ad Seattle.
The use, possession, sale, cultivation, and transportation of cannabis (marijuana) in the United States under federal law is illegal but the federal government has announced that if a state wants to pass a law to decriminalize cannabis for recreational or medical use they can do so, but they need to have a regulation system in place for cannabis. Cannabis is listed as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the highest classification under the legislation. This means that the substance has been claimed by the U.S. federal government to have both high abuse potential and no established medical use.
However, individual state laws do not always conform to the federal standard. State-level proposals for the rescheduling of cannabis have met with mixed success. Currently ( December 2014) , the use of both recreational and medicinal marijuana has been entirely legalized in the states of Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon. The District of Columbia's legalization is currently blocked by Congress. Ten states have both medical marijuana and decriminalization laws. Nine states and Guam have only legalized medical marijuana. Four states and the U.S. Virgin Islands have only decriminalized possession laws. The remaining twenty-three states and three inhabited territories state that marijuana is illegal, a felony, or a misdemeanor.
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