Legalizing Marijuana: 14 Infographics That Explain the Issues

Legalizing marijuana moved from fringe debate to mainstream U.S. policy after Colorado and Washington opened recreational markets. This roundup uses infographics to map health, politics, and legal arguments while opinion and state maps keep shifting.

• Why it matters: State markets grow inside a federal ban, so "legal" still depends on the map.
• By the numbers: Pew's Jan 2026 survey: 55% favor medical and recreational legality.
• Zoom in: Another 33% favor medical-only legality; just 11% want a full ban.
• Case in point: Crossing state lines with legal edibles can flip lawful purchase into a crime.
• The bottom line: Use the graphics for arguments, then check current state and federal status.

Marijuana is becoming a major legislative issue in the United States. Just last week, Colorado and Washington state voted to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. With the issue coming so far into the public discourse, infographics are a good way of grabbing an overview of some of the points of view on the issue. Here are 14 of them to get you started.

1. To start with, here’s a list of Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana.

2. Just like any substance, marijuana has some health benefits, and side effects. Here are ten health benefits.

3. And here are ten health side effects.

4. With Medical Marijuana being legalized in 18 states, in some cases the health benefits obviously outweigh the side effects.

5. In 2010, California also voted on legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Proposition 19 failed, but this video still has relevant data points.

6. 15 Things You Should Know About Marijuana also has a bunch of interesting facts.

7. As pointed out by Going Green, a growing percentage of americans think that legalizing pot is good for the country.

It’s wild to think about how fast the public conversation has shifted around marijuana. Ten years ago, you barely heard anyone in politics bring it up, and now you’ll spot congressional candidates with “end prohibition” on campaign flyers. Some polling from Pew in 2025 shows that almost 60% of Americans now support legalizing it—so, not exactly a fringe opinion anymore. You get the sense that this is less about a wave of radical new thinking, and more about everyone realizing that the sky didn’t fall in Colorado or Washington.

On the ground, you still find a lot of contradictions. There are families using cannabis oils legally for epilepsy just a few towns away from folks getting arrested for possession. The lines are fuzzy, to say the least. Legal markets are growing, but the patchwork of laws sometimes leads to some flat-out surreal situations—for example, someone driving legally purchased edibles across state lines and suddenly becoming a criminal. We’re still figuring out what “legal” really means, if we’re honest.

8. Despite the growing support, the issue is still Super-Charged.

9. Recently, Latin America came down on the side of legalization. As leading producers, that region of the world has a lot to gain from a rethink of drug laws around the world.

10. Colorado feels the same way. How Marijuana and Hemp Will Save Colorado shows how the state stands to gain from the recent legalization vote.

11. Weed, The People shows how people across the country are changing their views on the topic.

12. With 18 states and DC currently allowing Marijuana for medical use, there are some statistics on common flavors and types.

13. This also means Top 10 Greatest Hits are all called out.

14. It’s clear that weed is still controversial. In 2011, 23 states had laws about medical marijuana, although not all of them were decriminalizing it.

Drew Skau is a Visualization Architect at Visual.ly and a PhD Computer Science Visualization student at UNCC with an undergraduate degree in Architecture. You can follow him on twitter @SeeingStructure