18 States Predicted to Legalize Marijuana by 2020

The latest ArcView Market Research report reveals a prediction that 18 states will legalize recreational marijuana within the next five years. The report was devised to assist investors in the marijuana industry in charting a course for the future. Their data indicates the end of America’s marijuana prohibition may be well within reach.

“The continued success of the state markets has created the public perception that nationwide legalization is inevitable. This trend—compounded with the loss of big-name political donors, such as Peter Lewis and John Sperling—has created a political funding crisis,” noted the report’s authors.

“Winning full legalization the old-fashioned way—by getting it approved by a majority of the legislature and signed by the governor—would be an enormous political achievement that would open up the possibility of legalization in the balance of those states that do not offer a voter initiative,” stated a marijuana industry non-profit spokesperson.

ArcView’s analysts predict that recreational marijuana will be legalized within the next two years in eight states, including Arizona, California, Maine, and Nevada. It also appears that California is destined to join Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska, by passing initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana in 2016.