Factbox-U.S. states where recreational marijuana is legal

(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice is moving to make marijuana use a less serious crime, taking a step to reclassify the drug out of a category that includes heroin.

Reclassifying marijuana represents a first step toward narrowing the wide policy chasm between state and federal cannabis laws, with the drug legal in some form in nearly 40 states.

Currently, Marijuana falls under the same classification as heroin and LSD. A successful reclassification would include marijuana in the schedule three list alongside drugs such as Tylenol with codeine and ketamine.

Below is the list of U.S. states along with Washington DC that have legalized recreational marijuana:

State Start of recreational Projected revenue in 2023**

cannabis Sales

Ohio Effective end of 2024 N/A

Minnesota Effective 2025 N/A

Virginia Effective 2024 $198 million

Maryland Effective July 2023 $477 million

Delaware April 2023 $39 million

Missouri February 2023 $1.56 billion

Connecticut January 2023 $297 million

New York December 2022 $391 million

Rhode Island December 2022 $251 million

Vermont October 2022 $212 million

Washington July 2014 $1.20 billion

New Jersey April 2022 $1.09 billion

New Mexico April 2022 $650 million

Montana January 2022 $346 million

Arizona January 2021 $1.36 billion

Maine October 2020 $413 million

Illinois January 2020 $2 billion

Michigan December 2019 $2.70 billion

Massachusetts July 2018 $1.78 billion

California January 2018 $4.90 billion

Nevada July 2017 $867 million

Alaska October 2016 $98 million

Oregon October 2015 $941 million

Washington D.C. July 2014 $1.20 billion

Colorado January 2014 $1.60 billion

** Source - TD Cowen estimates from April 19

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy, Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shounak Dasgupta)