Cannabis has a long history of use for both medical and recreational purposes around the world. However, laws and attitudes towards the plant have shifted dramatically over the centuries. Marijuana was commonly used medicinally in many cultures for thousands of years before it began facing legal restrictions in the 1900s. In the U.S., the plant was easily obtainable as a medical product until the early 1900s when it began facing opposition. The first national U.S. anti-marijuana law was passed in 1937 under the Marihuana Tax Act. Eventually, marijuana was classified as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, declaring it to have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Though many countries followed the U.S. in banning recreational marijuana in the following decades, attitudes have slowly begun shifting in recent years.

International Marijuana Laws Today

While Legal Marijuana remains illegal under U.S. federal law, it is now legal for recreational use in 18 states plus the District of Columbia as of 2022. Canada became the second country after Uruguay to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide in 2018. Many countries, including Mexico, Luxembourg, Thailand, and South Africa have decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use in recent years. Several European nations like Germany, Italy, Denmark, and the Netherlands have taken a middle ground approach, allowing sales through cannabis social clubs and limited home-growing. Many countries in South America, Africa, and Asia still prohibit marijuana, though some openly tolerate small-scale operations or personal possession and use.

 

Legalizing and taxing the production and sale of marijuana opens significant economic opportunities for jurisdictions. Colorado reported over $1 billion in annual cannabis tax revenue by 2020, five years after legalization. Since 2014, total legal sales in Colorado topped $18.4 billion. Regulations have created tens of thousands of new jobs in cannabis businesses like growing, production, retail, consulting, and ancillary sectors. Legalization bolsters tax revenue that can be used to fund public programs like education without raising taxes elsewhere. With decreased enforcement costs required to police an illegal market, governments also gain financially from the reduced criminal justice expenses. As the industry grows globally, researchers project the total worldwide legal cannabis market could be worth over $44 billion by 2024.

 

 

While legalizing recreational marijuana does open possibilities for greater access, statistical research has shown legalization does not necessarily cause dramatic increases in overall consumption rates. According to U.S. federal survey data, rates of past-month marijuana use by adults have remained relatively flat for both medical and non-medical consumers since states began implementing reforms in 2012. Younger age groups do appear more likely to experiment when legal access expands, but the data suggests overall increased availability does not translate directly to widespread increases among the general adult population. Some public health experts argue legalization may reduce harm through better product regulation and consumer education compared to illicit markets. However, the relationship between policy changes and factors like abuse, dependence, and psychological issues are complex with ongoing research still needed.

 

 

While public opinion steadily shifts in favor of legalizing marijuana in many nations, political will and bureaucracy presents major obstacles to reform. Countries with federalist political structures face difficulties reconciling federal laws that contradict reforms passed at the state or provincial level. Entrenched interests in the alcohol and pharmaceutical industries also tend to lobby against legalization efforts. Law enforcement and prosecutorial organizations continue opposing reforms due to long-held drug war era perspectives as well. Social conservatism also present barriers to changing long-established marijuana policies in more religious or traditional societies. Complex multinational treaties like the UN’s international drug conventions obligate signatories to maintain prohibitionist stances, further complicating policy change. Therefore, full legalization will likely continue spreading gradually through incremental reforms rather than rapid overhauls. International norms are slowly evolving, but the obstacles to reform remain formidable for marijuana policy worldwide.

 

While the future of marijuana laws is difficult to predict, continued reform seems inevitable as public opinion and economic opportunities strengthen calls for change. Younger and more socially progressive voters replacing older generations should accelerate shifts in perspectives overtime. Canada's successful implementation of a nationwide legal marijuana framework may inspire emulation elsewhere. As more nations liberalize laws and better demonstrate impacts, momentum will likely mount for reform at the UN to modernize international drug treaties. Reform may come state-by-state or country-by-country through incremental changes to laws allowing cannabis for medical use, decriminalizing possession, expanding decriminalization, and establishing regulated adult-use frameworks. Full federal legalization may be a longer-term prospect for the U.S., but other nations appear positioned to become the next countries to permit recreational use nationwide. As has been seen on U.S. state legalization, policy changes rarely reverse course once implemented. Therefore, continued spread of legal marijuana appears highly probable over the coming decades across borders globally.