26 Jun The World is Slowly Legalizing Cannabis

[Updated July 4, 2017 to reflect the addition of Greece which legalized medical cannabis.]

A fascinating article in Wikipedia scours the globe to see which countries have taken action to legalize or decriminalize the use of cannabis. While we focus heavily on the dramatic trend here in the US, with 29 states and the District of Columbia having legalized at least medical marijuana, it is happening elsewhere too. The most dramatic thus far have been Uruguay, which has fully legalized marijuana, and Canada, which is implementing nationwide legal adult use cannabis next year. South Africa’s prohibitions on private cultivation and use of marijuana were declared invalid this year, so it is now legal there. Possession for personal use of up to 22 grams of marijuana has been legal in Colombia since 1994.

While the majority of countries still prohibit and criminalize the production or sale of cannabis, dozens of nations have decriminalized it, so you just pay a fine if you are caught. Over a dozen countries have legal medical marijuana, and more are considering legal adult use. Here is a list (from the Wikipedia article) of which countries are which.

Legal medical marijuana: Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece (coming) Israel, Macedonia, Mexico, Phillipines, Poland, Turkey, Uruguay

Legal adult use marijuana: Canada (coming), Colombia, India (only in several provinces), South Africa, Spain (with limitations), Uruguay

Marijuana use decriminalized: Belgium, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Georgia, Greece, Israel (coming), Jamaica (personal use cultivation legal), Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, US Virgin Islands