| State | Year Medical Law First Passed | Ballot or Bill? | Legal for Adult Use? | Taxes and Other Defining Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 1998 | Ballot | Yes (2014) | Taxes based on weight. No medical-specific differences in taxes. |
| Arizona | 2010 | Ballot | No | Large number of patients on registry, nearly 85% for chronic pain. Applies state and local sales taxes. |
| Arkansas | 2016 | Ballot | No | As of August, only eight operational dispensaries. Applies state and local sales taxes plus 4% gross receipts tax. |
| California | 1996 | Ballot | Yes (2016) | Medical patients can have state & local sales taxes waived, but cannot waive 15% plus additional weight-based excise tax. Issues meeting revenue projections. |
| Colorado | 2000 | Ballot | Yes (2012) | Medical subject to state (2.9%) and local sales tax, while recreational subject to 15% excise tax. |
| Connecticut | 2012 | Bill | No | Medical marijuana not taxed. Chronic and severe pain not included in language of bill. Qualifying conditions expanded in 2016 and 2018. |
| Delaware | 2011 | Bill | No | No state or local sales taxes in Delaware. State licenses only four “compassion centers.” |
| Florida | 2016 | Ballot | No | State and local sales taxes apply. District Court decision recently overturned requirement of vertical integration. No chronic and severe pain. |
| Hawaii | 2000 | Bill | No | Did not have dispensaries until 2016. First state to legalize medical through legislature. State and local sales taxes apply. |
| Illinois | 2013 | Bill | Yes (2019) | Medical has 1% pharmaceutical sales tax rate, plus 7% excise tax at wholesale. Recreational has state sales tax plus first ever potency-based sliding scale tax. |
| Louisiana | 2017 | Bill | No | Not yet in effect. First round of medical marijuana “cleared for release” as of August 1st. No chronic and severe pain. |
| Maine | 1999 | Ballot | Yes (2016) | Most medical products have 5.5% sales tax, edible products up to 8%. Rate for recreational is higher. Recreational program just beginning to start. |
| Maryland | 2003 | Bill | No | No sales taxes apply – treated like medicine. Revised multiple times for medical conditions. |
| Massachusetts | 2012 | Ballot | Yes (2016) | Medical marijuana not taxed. Recreational dispensary locations beginning to ramp up. |
| Michigan | 2008 | Ballot | Yes (2018) | Both medical and recreational subject to state sales tax; recreational (10%) excise tax. Medical excise tax (3%) built to expire just prior to recreational implementation. |
| Minnesota | 2014 | Bill | No | No sales taxes apply. Only edibles and oils are sold – no flower or vapor-based products. |
| Missouri | 2018 | Ballot | No | Retail sales tax of 4%. Program still in very early stages. Dispensaries expected mid-2020. |
| Montana | 2004 | Ballot | No | No state sales tax. Taxes went from none (prior to 2017) to 4% (2018) to 2% (current). |
| Nevada | 2000 | Ballot | Yes (2016) | State and local sales taxes apply. Medical and recreational both have 15% wholesale tax (used to be 2%), recreational has additional retail tax of 10%. |
| New Hampshire | 2013 | Bill | No | No state or local sales taxes in New Hampshire. Chronic pain included as of August 2017. |
| New Jersey | 2009 | Bill | No | State sales tax included. No chronic and severe pain. Recent expansion bill passed. |
| New Mexico | 2007 | Bill | No | State gross receipts taxes apply. Recent bill to remove taxes failed. Relatively large number on registry. |
| New York | 2014 | Bill | No | State sales tax (7%) included, plus 7% excise tax. Over 100,000 patients; 40 total dispensaries. |
| North Dakota | 2016 | Ballot | No | State and local sales taxes apply. Dispensaries opened up beginning in March 2019. |
| Ohio | 2016 | Bill | No | State and local sales taxes apply. Complicated structure of producer fees. Some issues getting dispensaries licensed and built. |
| Oklahoma | 2018 | Ballot | No | State and local sales taxes plus 7% gross receipts tax apply. Nearly 130,000 on registry one year into implementation. Only state to not list qualifying conditions in bill. |
| Oregon | 1998 | Ballot | Yes (2014) | No state sales tax; medical sales not taxed. Strong registry incentive – recreational sales taxed at 17%. |
| Pennsylvania | 2016 | Bill | No | 5% gross receipts tax on growers and processors. Widely available dispensaries. |
| Rhode Island | 2007 | Bill | No | State sales tax (7%) plus 4% of total monthly sales from dispensaries. Only three “compassion centers” in total. One of first states to include chronic pain. |
| Utah | 2018 | Ballot | No | Bill recently passed authorized first 14 pharmacies in the state to start Jan. 1, 2020. As of now, no state or local taxes apply to medical marijuana. |
| Vermont | 2004 | Bill | Yes (2018) | No sales taxes apply – classified as prescription drug. First state to legalize recreational through legislature. Retail sales of recreational begin ~2021. Five dispensaries for medical use only. |
| Washington | 1998 | Ballot | Yes (2012) | Highest excise tax rate (37%) of any state; taxes levied at same rate on medical and recreational marijuana. Numerous dispensaries. |
| West Virginia | 2017 | Bill | No | Still awaiting regulations, projected full rollout in 2020 or 2021. Most recent bill passed includes 10% gross receipts tax on dispensaries. |