Recreational cannabis has been legalized in more than 20 states and Washington, D.C., and there is now a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill to change a law that limits federal hiring by automatically disqualifying candidates who admit to having used cannabis.

As the clock struck midnight on Saturday, Maryland became the 21st state where recreational cannabis sales are legal.

Eager cannabis users camped out in the Green Ridge State Forest at a music festival that marked the occasion with a countdown to a 12 a.m. “bong drop.” The Maryland Marijuana Justice advocacy group gathered 30,000 marijuana seeds to hand out for free Saturday.

Minnesota's Democratic governor, Tim Walz, today reiterated his promise to sign a marijuana legalization bill that arrived at his desk on Saturday. That will make Minnesota, which legalized medical marijuana in 2014, the 23rd state to allow recreational use.

The Minnesota House and Senate, both of which are controlled by Democrats, had previously approved slightly different legalization bills. H.F. 100, which both chambers passed last week, reconciles those differences.

Marijuana legislation is tied to a 25% increase in cannabis use disorder among teens, and the share of 12th-graders who vaped pot products nearly doubled from 2017 to 2021, according to a report released Thursday.

The pot industry is saturating minority communities with dispensaries, but only 4% of those reporting profits from selling marijuana products are people of color.

More than 800,000 marijuana-related emergency room visits were reported in 2021. That was nearly double the 455,000 recorded in 2011.

Smoking weed had always been a social activity for Julian. He first tried cannabis in high school, and as an adult he would smoke a couple times a month with friends. But things changed after he moved to a new city where he didn’t know anyone. Julian (who asked not to use his last name when talking about a sensitive medical condition) didn’t have much of a social life, so he started smoking by himself to pass the time. “Weed became my friend,” he said. “I would get off work and I would smoke because I was bored.”

Voters in Oklahoma will reject a ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana in the state for adults ages 21 and older, CNN projects.

The ballot measure at stake in Tuesday’s special election was one of several such measures on cannabis use that has been considered by voters in recent months.

Oklahoma’s measure would have allowed for possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana and the growth of up to six mature marijuana plants and up to six seedlings. If it had passed, there would also have been a 15% tax of sales for recreational marijuana in the state.

Despite appearances, the United States is still a nation of laws, and every January first, we wake up to a gaggle of new ones that were passed by our hard-working legislators over the previous year. 2023 promises many new and exciting rules that must be followed or you’ll thrown into a cage, so here’s a cross-country tour of new statutes, codes, regulations, and ordinances we should all know about.

Federal laws promise cheaper insulin, electric cars

As President Joe Biden scored several legislative wins last year, voters across the country headed to the polls in November to decide on local measures.

The passage of several of those measures will lead to new state laws this year. And Americans in 2023 will also feel the impact of several provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that was enacted over the summer.

Here are some of the state and federal measures set to take effect in 2023.

Nearly half of all US states will increase their minimum wages in 2023.

Dozens of states will see major changes to abortion laws and minimum wage limits take effect after the U.S. rang in 2023 on Saturday.

California and New York will each begin enforcing new protections for abortion rights this week, while Tennessee will begin requiring physician prescriptions for all abortion-inducing drugs. Meanwhile, minimum-wage workers are receiving a pay raise in 23 states, and several other states will start enforcing changes to drug policies, Axios reported Sunday.