What States Legalized Weed? Updated: May 5, 2025 A significant majority of American states have legalized medicinal marijuana. Meanwhile, the number of states that permit recreational cannabis grows annually. The nation’s northern neighbor, Canada, fully legalized weed in October 2018, and it is likely that Mexico, to the south, will also allow fully legal marijuana sooner rather than later. The pressure is mounting on the American government to end more than 80 years of prohibition, but successive administrations have resisted calls to make …