freedomrankings.comDrug Policy
Cannabis policy splits the country: some states have legal adult-use markets and broad decriminalization, while others still impose criminal penalties for simple possession. This ranking scores all 50 states on drug-policy freedom — folding in recreational and medical marijuana legality, decriminalization, and possession penalties — so you can see where the law treats personal drug choices most leniently.
Montana leads all 50 states for Drug Policy with a score of 9.5/10, followed by Arizona and Missouri. South Carolina ranks last. Each state is scored 0–10 on Drug Policy from established, annually-updated third-party indexes.
Score reflects recreational and medical marijuana legality, decriminalization, and the severity of possession penalties. Darker green = stronger; click any state for its full breakdown.
Montana ranks #1 for drug-policy freedom, scoring 9.5/10 — typically a state with a legal adult-use market, broad decriminalization, and low possession penalties. The full ranking is above.
As of 2026, 24 states plus Washington, D.C. allow recreational (adult-use) marijuana. Most remaining states permit medical marijuana in some form, and only about a dozen still prohibit it outright.
South Carolina ranks lowest on drug-policy freedom, reflecting no legal cannabis market and harsher possession penalties.
The drug-policy score draws on NORML’s state-by-state assessments and related sources, scoring legality, decriminalization, and penalties. See the methodology page for details.