Cannabis Classification, Regulation, and Prohibition in the United States On November 4, 2014, legalization of the sale of cannabis to persons over the age of 21 will be on the ballot in Oregon and Alaska [Barro "Marijuana on the Ballot in Florida, Alaska, Oregon and DE\"). These initiatives follow in lock step with the recent trend in American politics to ease the outright prohibition of cannabis or, as in the cases of Colorado and Washington state, make the use of recreational cannabis entirely legal for those of or above the age of 21 [Ingraham "How Marijuana Legalization in Colorado and Washington Is Making the World a Better Place"). Since 1996, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized The use of cannabis for medical purposes (ProCon \"23 Legal Medical Marijuana States and DC: Laws, Fees, and Possession Limits\"). Of those 23 states, 10 have decriminalized small amounts of cannabis, while 2 additional states have decrii'ninalized cannabis but not made it available by way of a prescription (Chokshi "Where Marijuana Is Legalized, Decriminalized or on the