Dec 16, 2020 HIGH COUNTRY â While much of the focus was on the U.S. presidential race in the 2020 General Election, voters in five states also approved the legalization of marijuana, bringing the total to 36 states that have legalized it for medical use, if not recreational. Many states have gone through a step-by-step process toward legalization, starting with medicinal use and going up to regulated legalization. However, South Dakota went from illegal to totally legal in only one election. North Carolinaâs legalization efforts have stopped at allowing CBD hemp, a low-to-to-no-THC form of the plant. In the past 10 years, the stateâs stance on the still federally illegal drug has gone from the norm to an outlier, with neighboring Virginia even moving for legalization. With an already more tolerating legal stance, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced in November a plan to legalize marijuana in the state by the end of 2021.