Denver residents looking to enjoy the high holiday of April 20 will be happy to discover that the city has earned the title of most weed-friendly in the US.
The Mile High City ranked first in an analysis of pro-pot attitudes and policies in America’s largest metropolitan areas — thanks to Colorado’s abundance of marijuana dispensaries and relaxed drug laws.
Cities earning spots two through five were Portland, Oregon; Las Vegas; Buffalo, New York; and Baltimore – all in states that have fully legalized marijuana.
However, Americans in the South who want to smoke may be disappointed to find that many Southern cities extend no courtesy to their 4/20 celebrants.
Louisville, Kentucky ranks last for friendliest cities. The home state only allows medical marijuana, limiting its use to patients with fifteen health conditions who have been recommended by doctors to consume the drug.
Prior to Louisville, Dallas; Atlanta; Houston; and Birmingham, Alabama took places 49 to 46.
The rankings come from a real estate witch and Leafly report which rated the 50 largest U.S. metro areas based on 15 metrics.
They include the legal status and price of marijuana, the number of dispensaries per 100,000 people, the number of fast-food restaurants per 100,000 people, Internet searches for pot-related terms and the number of visits to online marijuana resources.
The findings showed that the top 14 friendliest pot cities were all in states where the drug is fully legal.
No cities in states that ban marijuana in any form made the list, and the fifteen least friendly cities were all in states that only allow the drug under certain conditions.
Denver takes the top spot in part because it has four times as many pharmacies and 2.5 times as many head shops as the average American city – with 10.4 pharmacies per 100,000 residents.
The city also has ‘unbeatable’ pot prices. An ounce of high-quality weed costs $242, compared to the national average of $318.
However, Portland, which ranked first last year but fell to second in 2024, has even cheaper marijuana: $213 per ounce. And thanks to the abundance of pharmacies – 13.7 per 100,000 inhabitants – people looking for the drug will have no problem getting their fix.
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For the third year in a row, Washington DC has the most expensive weed: one ounce of high-quality marijuana costs $597.
Other findings showed that Kansas City, Missouri, has improved the most, rising 13 spots from 22nd in 2023 to ninth this year.
While Missouri only legalized recreational marijuana two years ago, Kansas City already has double the number of dispensaries per capita as Los Angeles, which legalized it in 2016.
And that city has fallen in most places in the report this year. Los Angeles fell 13 places.
One surprising result, the analysis said, was that Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where recreational pot is not legal, had more dispensaries than any other metro area, with 32.2 stores per 100,000 residents.
In Oklahoma, marijuana is only legal for medicinal use.
David Downs, senior content manager at Leafly, said: “Cannabis is a medicine. They use it for sleep, anxiety, stress and pain.
“The collapse in the price of marijuana in Oklahoma has been a public health victory for Oklahomans, who now have a safer, less addictive option than many of the drugs they were offered.”
The price is $336 per ounce, helping the state rise three spots this year.
In the United States, marijuana is fully legal – for recreational and medicinal use – in 29 states. It is completely illegal in four states.
The laws in the remaining states are mixed, meaning the drug may be allowed for medicinal use, only allowed in the form of CBD oil, decriminalized, or a combination of these.
Decriminalization of marijuana means reducing penalties for cannabis-related offenses. In some states, possession of marijuana in a certain amount, which varies by state, can be treated more like a traffic violation.
Penalties may include fines, but do not result in an arrest, jail time, or criminal record for first possession of a small amount of money for personal use.
Regardless of state law, the analysis found that about 62 percent of Americans have tried marijuana. Fifty-five percent support legalizing the drug and a third would rather use cannabis than drink alcohol.
Support for legalization was highest in the Midwest at 61 percent and lowest in the South at 44 percent.
However, a separate September 2023 Gallup poll found that 70 percent of Americans believe the drug should be legal — a new national high.
Cannabis advocates say the drug has health and social benefits and that making it illegal does little to stop consumption and only leads to many senseless incarcerations, often of young black men.
Despite widespread support, 23 percent of Americans still oppose legalization, with cannabis opponents claiming that widespread use leads to higher rates of mental health problems, substance abuse – especially among teens and young adults – and more stoned drivers on the road, causing car accidents.