At midnight on Thursday, Oregon became the third state in the nation to allow the sale of recreational marijuana, joining Colorado and Washington as the only states with functioning and fully legal marketplaces, reported Reuters.
Adults older than 21 can now buy up to a quarter-ounce (seven grams) of the green stuff per day without needing a doctor's recommendation.
Roughly 200 out of the 346 existing medical marijuana dispensaries in the state have registered to also sell recreational cannabis under the new law, with the vast majority of them in Portland, as HNGN previously reported.
Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill this summer allowing the medical dispensaries to temporarily sell recreational marijuana starting on Oct. 1, while the state Liquor Control Commission irons out the details on regulating marijuana shops, which are expected to open up late next year.
Until then, consumers are only allowed to buy cannabis flowers, seeds and clone plants – pot-infused candy, oils, cookies and lotions will for now remain available only to people with medical marijuana cards. Recreational pot sales will also be untaxed and the prices will be set by individual stores. In January, the state will begin taxing sales at 25 percent, reports USA Today.
Oregon legalized the possession and growing of marijuana in July, though some 30 municipalities have already banned the sale of recreational marijuana.
Marijuana is also completely legal in Alaska and the District of Columbia, but sales have not yet begun. Twenty-three other states allow some form of medical marijuana, and legalization measures will be on the ballot in Ohio in November and several other states in 2016, including Arizona, California, Maine and Nevada, according to Forbes.
The plant still remains illegal under federal law and classified as having no medicinal value.
