Cannabis was illegal for a century. It only took a decade to change that. LESTER BLACK
People have interacted with pot for at least 7,000 years, but there’s no decade in that stretch that has been better for cannabis than the one we’re currently finishing. Pot went from being widely illegal and politically toxic to being a plant that is easily available to millions of adults across the country.
Pot had a really, really good decade.
Pot won by every possible metric, especially its legal status in the United States. In 2009, only 14 states had medical access to pot. Ten years later, an incredible 35 states have medical cannabis in some form, and 11 more (plus the District of Columbia) legalized recreational pot. Only Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, and South Dakota have no pot access.
