This election, voters in four states will weigh in on legalizing marijuana in various forms. Three states—Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota—will decide on recreational use, while Nebraska voters will consider medical use.
For North and South Dakota, this isn’t new territory. Both states have voted on recreational legalization twice before. In 2020, South Dakotans approved a measure for recreational marijuana, still, it faced legal pushback from the head of the state highway patrol, ultimately leading the South Dakota Supreme Court to overturn the measure.
Meanwhile, Nebraska is set to vote on two initiatives, Measures 437 and 438, which, if passed, would legalize and regulate medical marijuana. Nebraska’s neighbors, Iowa and South Dakota, already allow medical cannabis, while Wyoming permits CBD and low-THC products, and both Colorado and Missouri have legalized recreational and medical marijuana.
As of 2024, nearly half of U.S. states have already legalized medical, recreational marijuana, or both, marking a shift in nationwide attitudes toward cannabis regulation.