Hypothetically, let’s say you are traveling from Washington to Colorado through Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. How do the pot laws compare?
Possessing one ounce of cannabis is legal in Washington, as it is in Colorado.
In Idaho, possessing up to one ounce is a year in prison and a $1000 fine. Spokane in particular, but all the Washington counties bordering Idaho show much higher average consumption rates than their native population suggests, which suggests the Coeur d’Alene and Sand Point folks are gladly paying the Washington tax at retail stores in Spokane. There’s no hope for Idaho ever changing it’s laws, so it has to live with this.
Montana would penalize at 6 months in prison and a $500 fine. They had a medical marijuana law on the books, but a recent court decision basically eliminated that, giving Montana the distinction of being the first state to actually regress from any progressive marijuana reforms. Like Idaho, they choose to believe that an unregulated black market is preferable to any alternative. Missoula is a three-hour drive from Spokane. If you do it right, it’s only a once-a-month road trip to Spokane to keep supplied.
It’s 6 months and $500 for possession in Wyoming. Wyoming does have a medical law on the books, but it only allows something that doesn’t exist and can’t be developed. I guess if the black market is working, maybe it’s worth sticking with it.
Though our hypothetical driving trip doesn’t involve Utah, possession is penalized by 6 months and $1000 there.
Luckily, California and Oregon have demonstrated for 40 years they can supply these states with the products they want, albeit with the risk taken by their citizens of their states.