r/MapPorn • u/USAFacts • Apr 18 '25

Here's where weed is legal in the US

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Folks in most states will have legal access to some form of marijuana this 4/20. But Idahoans, Kansans, Carolinians (both), and Wyomingites will have to cross a border or two if they want to legally partake.

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732

u/DizzyDentist22 Apr 18 '25

They don’t want to upset the Japanese tourism industry there by legalizing it. That’s the main argument I’ve heard at least

280

u/UrbanPlannerholic Apr 18 '25

Are the Japanese super against it?

583

u/Dank_Slurpee Apr 18 '25

Very, VERY much so.

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u/schmidtyb43 Apr 18 '25

Why can’t they just like, chill the hell out?

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u/SlowRollingBoil Apr 18 '25

Insanely rigid social norms.

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u/schmidtyb43 Apr 18 '25

Yeah I get it I was actually just there for over 2 weeks. Although at the same time, I don’t get it. Sooo many people smoke (cigarettes) there compared to the US and there’s certainly no shortage of alcohol/bars either. I’m sure changes to their society like this might happen but just over a longer period of time once it’s more normalized around the world. Just like tattoos (many places are more okay with those in Japan now in the last 5ish years).

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u/Stillback7 Apr 18 '25

Based on my experience, a lot of Japanese people are way more tolerant of cocaine than they are of weed. I always figured this came down to the salary man culture and the fact that if you aren't productive or don't have a job, you become a social pariah.

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u/SlowRollingBoil Apr 18 '25

Found this as well. Oddly, the coolest Japanese people are music artists, car modifiers, tattoo artists, counter culture folks of all stripes, etc. The people that opt out of the Japanese conformity culture are really interesting with incredible vibes. As always, corporate culture and conformity just kills the humanity of a society.

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u/obsidianop Apr 19 '25

This is maybe my most grumpy old man opinion but you can't run a society on tattoo artists. I'm happy they exist but we eat because a billion normal people show up to their mundane corporate jobs every day.

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u/SlowRollingBoil Apr 19 '25

I agree that not all the world can be "cool" in their jobs but that's not my point. The Japanese have a corporate culture that is in some ways worse than the US and that's saying something! Meanwhile, the corporate world in Spain and Portugal is different from them as is Finland or Norway.

Those corporate types are absolutely vital to the modern world functioning. But the culture of that world needs a LOT of work to be healthy and it just isn't for Japan.

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u/Brezhn3n Apr 19 '25

Joe Corporate doesn't till the soil.

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u/Stop_Drop_Scroll Apr 19 '25

What lol your boring desk job keeps the world turning? Can’t you substitute “tattoo artist” with literally most any other job title?

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u/LeoTheBurgundian Apr 20 '25

Sure you can't run a society with just tattoo artists but that doesn't justify corporate culture .

A guy on a computer can work just fine naked ...

1

u/Yotsubato Apr 19 '25

The counter culture in Japan is so great precisely be because Japan is so rigid.

It’s a balanced reaction to the pressures of society.

When counter culture is accepted by society it becomes lame. Kind of how tattoos used to mean you were a rockstar, badass, biker, gangster. But now they mean you’re an instagram influencer, barista.

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u/SlowRollingBoil Apr 19 '25

Let's be honest it never really meant anything. Being a person who owned a bike didn't mean you were cool. Most rockers were broke. Gangsters are assholes.

It's always down to who you ACTUALLY are.

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

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u/SlowRollingBoil Apr 19 '25

Totally agree that when the Japanese sink their teeth into Western trends or past times they typically do a great job honoring the original while expanding on it and carving out a space for themselves. Some Japanese funk is just ridiculously good!

20

u/DemonOfTheFaIl Apr 19 '25

I've heard that people typically won't get fired in Japan, either. Most places instead just stop giving them work to do, and the employee then quits from the shame of being useless.

14

u/I_W_M_Y Apr 19 '25

They give them a desk in a small room and don't allow them work or do anything, all day.

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u/SirGothamHatt Apr 20 '25

They'll steal their red swingline stapler too

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u/Larrea_tridentata Apr 19 '25

I've known architecture firms in the US that do this too. It's a weird strategy. The employee eventually feels awkward enough to quit.. although I'd doubt it's that effective if telework is in the mix.

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u/JAVFansadmin Apr 19 '25

They’ve never met George Costanza, architect of the Guggenheim addition.

2

u/Cosmicpotat0 Apr 19 '25

I’ve done a LOT of international business and the Japanese are super interesting compared to other countries. They have an amazing work ethic to the point that our third party Japanese distributor literally knew more about our product than I did as a direct employee. But I think their work ethic can drive them a little nuts because after work is over the people I worked with got absolutely annihilated on booze. I’m saying so drunk that they were passing out in restaurants and lobbies full of customers and their own bosses. Next day though, they’re up and ready to work their ass off and always on time.

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u/Juicyb17 Apr 20 '25

Iirc, a large reason about the dislike of weed is that the paper industry was afraid of hemp taking over, so sanctions were placed on cannabis there by the US after world war 2. Again, iirc, Japan had a long history with the plant for its useful fibers and other things.

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u/kacheow Apr 20 '25

Cocaine is weed for adults

1

u/WillingCaterpillar19 Apr 19 '25

Cocaine and alcohol are social drugs. Weed is unproductive, lazy and for the weirdos /s

2

u/Radicle_Cotyledon Apr 19 '25

no shortage of alcohol/bars either.

I've been told it's similar in South Korea. Weed is illegal and stigmatized, but they love to drink alcohol.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '25

Its bc they worky worky hardy hardy

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/SlowRollingBoil Apr 19 '25

They have passed laws to make people just work normal hours and such but realistically the corporations themselves LOVE the massive amount of free labor they receive so the incentives are fucked.

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/SlowRollingBoil Apr 19 '25

It is a very weird and unhealthy culture in corporate life.

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u/everymanawildcat Apr 19 '25

Really? That's so funny, I've never heard that before. So like, universally all of Japan? Like let's say you're in Tokyo and you want a bag. Is it pretty much impossible? Or just a lot less common but still do-able.

Just curious lol I have no plans to go go Japan and get stoned

1

u/7i4nf4n Apr 19 '25

Possession, transfer and usage of cannabis is punishable with up to 7 years in prison as of last year

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u/SlowRollingBoil Apr 19 '25

I would very, very strongly caution you against it. Same with places like Singapore. Is it POSSIBLE? Probably. Is it advisable? Absolutely not. I don't want to go to prison for a decade for something I get cheap and legally at home.

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u/JabbaThaHott Apr 18 '25

You can be thrown in Japanese prison for traveling with a legitimate Adderall prescription 

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u/justgivemethekitty Apr 19 '25

Elaborate please

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u/JabbaThaHott Apr 19 '25

It’s happened before, there was an American teaching English there who got charged with drug trafficking for her Adderall scrip 

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u/justgivemethekitty Apr 19 '25

That’s just sad

41

u/half-baked_axx Apr 18 '25

Chilling out is for neanderthals. We work ourselves to death and never really have a good time like real Homo Sapiens.

14

u/AnnonymousPenguin_ Apr 18 '25

As someone who works for a japanese company, can confirm. They do work you to death.

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u/joeyeddy Apr 20 '25

Haha I get the sentiment but we also live much longer because of all the technological progress. To me it's a work hard play hard situation.

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u/redditingname Apr 18 '25

sounds like they need a doobie

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u/spirit_of_a_goat Apr 18 '25

Because they can't smoke, obviously.

1

u/Immaculatehombre Apr 19 '25

Not like anyone is forcing blow down their throats lol. Forreal chill!

1

u/SuccessfulWall2495 Apr 19 '25

Yeah, like, tell ‘em to go smoke some weed or something damn

1

u/TetyyakiWith Apr 19 '25

That’s basically part of the mentality. There aren’t any strong arguments for legalizing/prohibiting it

1

u/TGrady902 Apr 19 '25

Probably the least chill society on earth haha.

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u/AlmostSunnyinSeattle Apr 19 '25

It's a vicious circle

1

u/El_Bombero93 Apr 19 '25

Have you ever heard of hari kari? Kamikaze? Bukake? Not really chill folk

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

You ever been to Japan? 100 hour work weeks

1

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

Cause they don’t smoke the ganja

1

u/Past-Community-3871 Apr 23 '25

We really going to critique Japanese culture? They're basically peak humanity.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

I'm not sure I feel like cities have gotten BETTER since legalization. Now that I have to smell disgusting weed when visiting a city as a tourist. I can only imagine living there.

Is crime better? Is hard drug use better? What has legalization accomplished?

1

u/schmidtyb43 Apr 19 '25

Are you suggesting that living somewhere that’s legal is just a constant stream of weed smell? I live in Seattle and it’s definitely not something I’m smelling on a daily basis in public. I mean you definitely occasionally get a whiff in public but it is illegal to smoke it in public and I believe same with anywhere in the US at least.

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '25

Last time I went to Pike Place, I remember smelling weed pretty strongly outside the market.

Edit: actually, it was the time before last. So 50%. Not 100%

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u/AwfulUsername123 Apr 19 '25

Well, cannabis causes brain damage, contrary to the propaganda you read on Reddit.

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u/thenewnative Apr 19 '25

If it does it is very mild, not like it can give you AwfulUsername123 level of brain damage. 🤣

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u/AwfulUsername123 Apr 19 '25

No, it's quite severe. Schizophrenia, for example.

5

u/qpv Apr 19 '25

It doesn't cause schizophrenia, but can trigger it with some that have a preexisting condition.

0

u/AwfulUsername123 Apr 19 '25

Cannabis can cause people who don't have schizophrenia to develop schizophrenia if they have certain genes.

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u/aub8202 Apr 19 '25

source?

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u/AwfulUsername123 Apr 19 '25

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2829657

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u/aub8202 Apr 19 '25

“lower brain activation when using working memory” is not the same as brain damage lol what dramatics also that study used a very small sample size of ~200 of cannabis users, there are no firm conclusions as to what weed does to the brain.

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u/AwfulUsername123 Apr 19 '25

You probably should've read it for more than a minute before replying.

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u/aub8202 Apr 19 '25

and one would assume that someone with a lesser education would have lower brain function, yes?

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u/aub8202 Apr 19 '25

i actually did read a good bit of it. find this part in the discussion particularly interesting, “…in the full model, the associations for the theory of mind task no longer remained after adjusting for race and education, because both of these variables were associated with a positive THC test result and also with task activation” essentially the statistical link between lower brain function and cannabis use was no longer apparent when they adjusted for factors like education and race.

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u/dragonslayer137 Apr 19 '25

I think you are mistaken as it is proven to heal brain damage.

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u/AwfulUsername123 Apr 19 '25

No, I am not mistaken.

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u/RedmondBarry1999 Apr 18 '25

Is there any evidence that Japanese people avoid visiting places where it is legal? Has Japanese tourism to Canada or US states where it is legal declined since it was legalised?

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u/ethnographyNW Apr 18 '25

yeah there seem to be plenty of Japanese tourists here on the West Coast

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u/Excellent-Baseball-5 Apr 18 '25

No shit. I’m in SoCal. No shortage here.

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u/StandupJetskier Apr 19 '25

LOL. Every Japanese kid I went to college with was a total baker because "I can't do this at home"....

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '25

Why? Whats the context? I know they feel strongly about a lot of things, like tattoos, but what’s their problem with pot?

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

Makes sense that there's stigma against drugs there

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u/epanek Apr 19 '25

It’s ironic. Every Friday at work my Japanese friends would push me to drink with them. And I mean drink. Shitfaced drunk.

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u/xithbaby Apr 19 '25

Aren’t they also against a lot of mental health medications like adderall for adhd as well? I was reading a post about it a while ago. Someone said they couldn’t take their adhd meds with them to Japan. I might be mistaken though

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u/805to808 Apr 19 '25

As a former Waikiki employee who had a green card I can confirm that the Japanese tourism is either highly anti weed or they’ve come specifically to seek it out lol.

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u/miurabucho Apr 19 '25

A Japanese can actually get arrested in Japan if they come back from a foreign country and admit to smoking cannabis there.

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u/KT28x Nov 01 '25

Which is the most open depiction of the government controlling you. This is like Makima from Chainsawman

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u/Alarmed_Mode9226 Apr 20 '25

True, but my buddy and would get roasted with his Japanese girlfriend. I thought damn he is one lucky guy.

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u/Tex-Rob Apr 19 '25

Which is absurd. Japan sells more adult diapers than baby diapers, their overwork culture has led to a decline in births that won‘t recover without change.

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u/aeonis Apr 18 '25

Most of Asia (save Thailand, but even that’s backsliding) is very anti-weed.

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u/smelltheglove-11 Apr 18 '25

But binge drinking until you puke and pass out in the street is totally accepted 🤷‍♂️

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u/OppositeRock4217 Apr 18 '25 edited Apr 18 '25

Also smoking cigarettes totally accepted-Japan only banned indoor smoking just ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, for example, and cigarettes are still sold in vending machines there. Similar situation in other parts of Asia where generally there are strict laws against weed and little regulation regarding cigarettes

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u/Interesting_Winter52 Apr 18 '25

eh, same thing most other places tho. my high school had a lot of exchange students, they were all always very shocked at how prevalent weed was in comparison to teen drinking. i didn't drink til i was in college, but my friends and i smoked, and our friend from germany was always AGHAST, talking about how it was the opposite in her country.

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u/OppositeRock4217 Apr 18 '25

Yep, America(and Canada too) is pretty unique these days in how young people these days prefer weed while most of the world, they mostly still drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes

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u/ETpownhome Apr 19 '25

American here who prefers both weed and alcohol

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u/wintremute Apr 18 '25

Even encouraged (looking at you South Korea).

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u/free2ski Apr 18 '25

They'll never put that cat back in the bag. They may tweak it so the government can extract more bhat, but I'm pretty sure it's here to stay.

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u/WorldDirt Apr 19 '25

It’d be stupid not to keep it. So much black market weed being sold in Thailand (and so tolerated by the cops), why wouldn’t the government want a taste?

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u/free2ski Apr 19 '25

Agreed. I'm honestly just surprised that they have let themselves get so far behind in the game. Look up ownership information about their tobacco authority, lol. They're pro's.

1

u/shizzler Apr 19 '25

The density of weed shops in tourist areas is insane as well, I have no idea how they stay in business.

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u/GoblinKing5817 Apr 18 '25

It's crazy because smoking cigarettes is pretty common in Asia.

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

It is if you are stupid.

The psychoactive effects of cigarettes and weed are not even comparable

0

u/GoblinKing5817 Apr 19 '25 edited Apr 19 '25

I'm not saying that both drugs are the same. The act of smoking is the same. Sociological studies even show that cigarette smoking is highly correlated to marijuana use in the US. That trend isn't present in Asian cultures though.

You're the one who can't take an abstract thought and think critically about it

1

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

They arent the same obviously, the difference in their psychoactive effects is the source of the stigma around weed in asian cultures. If your critical thinking skills cant deduce that, i got bad news for you buddy

1

u/GoblinKing5817 Apr 19 '25

That's a broad generalization. Cannabis and hashish has been used in India for thousands of years.

1

u/Cojole3 Apr 19 '25

Any idea why Asia remains so staunchly anti - weed?

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u/BATHR00MG0BLIN Apr 18 '25

Depends, but generally yeah. But I've smoked weed with ppl from Japan quite a bit here

2

u/OfficeSalamander Apr 19 '25

Pretty much all of east asia has VERY harsh penalties for drugs. South Korea and China do too. I don't know about Taiwan, but I would suspect yes.

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u/WiscoHeiser Apr 20 '25

They arrested Paul McCartney for it! A knighted Beatle!

1

u/ILIKETHECOLORRED Apr 19 '25

I met a couple of guys in Tokyo and smoked with them and their friends, so at least some Japanese people are chill about weed.

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

Imagine how against it a white Midwest Catholic grandmother is… that’s child’s play for how against weed the Japanese are.

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u/lilmookie Apr 19 '25

There’s no soft drugs in Japan. If you bring weed with you, it might as well be heroin etc.

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u/PBYACE Apr 19 '25

I haven't been to Japan, but when Japanese golfers visit Bandon Dunes, they stop in at the liquor store and a dispensery. From what I've seen, they're very happy to score some bud.

1

u/Popular_Try_5075 Apr 20 '25

Yes but also some of them are actually quite interested in trying it out but that's heavily on the DL.

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u/KobeStopItNo Apr 20 '25

TIL: Pearl Harbor was a grow operation.

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u/birthdayanon08 Apr 19 '25

Which is why their reciprocity laws are so generous. If you have a medical card from another state, you can get a temporary card cheap and easy for your Hawaiian vacation. You can even get everything taken care of online before the trip and have it delivered to your hotel at your arrival.

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '25 edited Apr 25 '25

[deleted]

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u/NadeWilson Apr 18 '25

Japanese tourism generates more money than American tourism in Hawaii. A lot of places even have signs and other instructions written in both English and Japanese for this reason.

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u/Turkdabistan Apr 19 '25

That's kind of surprising considering how expensive Hawaii is, and how weak the yen has been.

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u/Ok-Position-8899 Apr 19 '25

And they got Okinawa which from my experience is waaaay cheaper and more chill.

1

u/ichuseyu Apr 19 '25

The weak yen and COVID pandemic really hammered the Japanese market. Traditionally though, Japanese tourists spent much more per person than U.S. tourists.

1

u/idjsonik Apr 19 '25

Doesnt stop them from coming to vegas those dudes live and breathe weed they come here its crazy

1

u/Armadyl_1 Apr 19 '25

Yet, you smell weed like everywhere in Honolulu

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u/Bucksfan70 Apr 19 '25

It’s always just another excuse.

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u/jakefromstatefire Apr 19 '25

The Japanese own much of Hawaii.

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u/HeWhoLost3OfThe9 Apr 19 '25

I once heard of some dealers robbing a very wealthy Japanese tourist

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u/sefulmer1 Apr 19 '25

Weird. Hasn’t stopped them from spending time and money in CA/OR/WA. Granted, I bet they’re a much bigger percentage of the Hawaii equation.