I n July, Georgia became the 41st state to legalize medical marijuana.

For years, Georgia had a low-THC program but the passage of Senate Bill 220 on July 1 expanded the program by allowing medical marijuana, which includes many THC products that are available in other states.

For a state with 11 million people, Georgia expanding to medical marijuana is a big deal. “It’s a new day in Georgia for medical cannabis,” Kim Rivers, CEO and cofounder of Florida-based cannabis company Trulieve, wrote on X . Trulieve, which has six dispensaries in the state, celebrated the first sale under the expanded program on July 1.

SB 220, which was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, replaced the program’s language only permitting “low-THC oil” with “medical cannabis” and removed potency restrictions. The law also removed language only permitting people with qualifying medical conditions that are “severe” or “end-stage,” which will open the market to more patients. Illnesses like lupus, inflammatory bowel disease and others have been added to the list of qualifying conditions as well. Cannabis flower is also now allowed (but only for vaporizing as smoking is not permitted) as are THC oil vaporizers.

Jason Vedadi, the founder of Story Cannabis, which is building a 200,000-square-foot cultivation facility and plans to open seven stores throughout Georgia, is excited about the new market.

“You’re going to see massive growth as the patient population will explode in the next three years,” says Vedadi. “It will be huge. I could see it $1 billion medical market pretty easily.”

But cannabis dispensaries are not the only places medical marijuana patients will be able to get their products. Georgia is the only state in the U.S. to allow independent licensed pharmacies to carry marijuana. This model is like the one in Germany, which is the biggest cannabis market in the European Union with sales hitting $944 million last year .

This has been a big year for the $30 billion state-regulated marijuana industry. In April, the Justice Department reclassified medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug . Medical marijuana is now a Schedule III substance, alongside steroids, ketamine and Tylenol with codeine, down from Schedule I, where it had been classified alongside heroin and LSD since 1970. Adult-use marijuana is still Schedule I, but the Drug Enforcement Administration just concluded hearings about its potential rescheduling and a decision is expected soon.

Also in July, Virginia unveiled its long-awaited recreational marijuana retail program. Adult-use has been legal for five years but there was never a legal framework for dispensaries. This month, Governor Abigail Spanberger unveiled a plan to allow for 350 cannabis dispensaries to open across the state beginning July 1, 2027.

There could be more state-level progress in the year ahead. Here’s where the cannabis map could expand in 2026 and beyond.

Legalizing recreational marijuana sales could make its way back to the Sunshine State’s ballot in November, but it will be another uphill battle . In 2024, despite President Trump giving his support, the ballot measure failed to get the necessary 60% of the vote and did not pass. Paul Armentano, the deputy director of nonprofit cannabis legalization advocacy group NORML says that there would need to be “significant shake ups after the mid-term elections to have any realistic possibilities for any comprehensive changes.”

Hawaii was the first state to legalize medical marijuana through the state legislature in 2000 but has not been able to legalize a recreational market. The state’s lawmakers tried to pass adult-use in 2024, but the bill passed by the Senate died in committee. There is now a push to get the issue approved as a ballot measure.

Iowa has a highly restricted program that only allows for patients to purchase 4.5 grams of THC every 90 days. But as Texas and Georgia have expanded their restrictive programs, Iowa could do something similar.

“Over the last couple of years, we saw a handful of states with limited programs pass reforms to allow better access,” says Armentano. “It is possible to see expansion in Iowa.”

The Keystone State legalized medical marijuana in 2016 and Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, the state’s former attorney general, is in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis. Every state bordering Pennsylvania has legalized adult-use cannabis, except for West Virginia which has a strict and limited medical program . But so far, efforts have failed and there is not enough support bipartisan support to get it done. “The balance of power would need to shift to get it done,” says Armentano.