Prohibited HIGH

Wyoming

Wyoming maintains a strict Tier 5 classification for cannabis, entirely prohibiting both adult-use and medical access. The state's conservative political landscape has consistently defeated decriminalization and medical authorization efforts, despite polling that suggests evolving public sentiment.
Enforcement of cannabis laws in Wyoming exhibits significant racial disparities: Black individuals are 5.2 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than white individuals, placing Wyoming ninth in the nation for racial disparity in possession arrests per a landmark ACLU study.
As a sparsely populated state bordering mature legal markets (Colorado and Montana), Wyoming serves as a major transit corridor. Law enforcement heavily prioritizes highway interdiction, particularly along Interstate 80, coordinated through the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force.
A 2021 legislative analysis estimated that an adult-use market could generate up to $47 million annually in tax revenues, with the majority earmarked for the state's school foundation fund — funds currently lost to neighboring legal jurisdictions.

Wyoming stands as one of the few remaining states in the U.S. West to maintain comprehensive cannabis prohibition. The socio-political environment in the state reflects a tension between traditional conservative governance and an undercurrent of frontier libertarianism. While the state's population appears increasingly amenable to reform — particularly regarding medical access and the decriminalization of simple possession — the Republican supermajority in the state legislature, recently influenced by the ascending Freedom Caucus, has successfully stymied all legislative reform efforts. Arrests for cannabis possession remain a significant component of the state's criminal justice system, though recent data suggests a gradual decline in the total volume of these arrests. Expungement and diversion programs exist but are characterized by restrictive eligibility criteria and extended probationary periods. For policymakers and researchers, Wyoming represents a critical case study in border-state prohibition dynamics, illustrating the complexities of enforcing strict criminalization adjacent to highly regulated, multi-billion-dollar legal markets.

Penalties

Offense	Amount	Classification	Penalty
Under the Influence	Any amount	Misdemeanor	Up to 6 months in jail and/or a $750 fine. ^[8]
Possession	3 ounces or less	Misdemeanor	Up to 12 months imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. ^[8]
Possession	More than 3 ounces	Felony	Up to 5 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. ^[8]
Possession — Concentrates	0.3 grams or less of liquid concentrate (e.g., hash oil)	Misdemeanor	Up to 12 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. ^[8]
Possession — Concentrates	More than 0.3 grams of liquid concentrate	Felony	Up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. ^[8]
Sale or Distribution	Any amount	Felony	Up to 10 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. ^[8]
Distribution to a Minor	Adult distributing to person under 18 who is more than 3 years their junior	Felony	Up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. ^[8]
Home Cultivation	Any amount (even a single plant)	Misdemeanor	Up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. ^[7]
Paraphernalia	Possession or delivery	Misdemeanor	Up to 180 days (6 months) in jail and a $750 fine. ^[7]
School Zone Enhancement	Any conviction within 500 feet of a school	Enhancement	Additional mandatory $500 fine added to underlying penalty. ^[8]

Criminal Justice

Group	Metric	Value
Black	Disparity Ratio	5.2x more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than white individuals ^[15]
Black	Arrest Rate per 100k	376 per 100,000 (2013 ACLU data; among the highest in the country relative to national averages) ^[16]
All	National Ranking	Wyoming ranked 9th in the nation for greatest racial disparities in cannabis possession arrests (2018 ACLU study) ^[15]

In the absence of a regulated market, Wyoming devotes considerable enforcement resources to the criminalization of cannabis consumers. Arrest volumes peaked at 2,613 in 2018 and have trended lower, but 1,016 custodial arrests still occurred in 2024, constituting nearly 10% of all custodial arrests in the state. The counties with the highest 2024 arrest totals were Natrona (255), Laramie (152), Sweetwater (134), and Campbell (78). Racial disparities are severe and well-documented: Black residents are 5.2 times more likely to face arrest than white residents despite comparable usage rates. UCR hierarchy reporting rules further obscure the true scale of cannabis enforcement, as cannabis possession charges logged alongside a more severe offense (e.g., DUI) are not counted in cannabis arrest totals.

What Wyoming Is Leaving on the Table

If Wyoming had adult-use cannabis sales at the level of operational states:

Benchmark	Per Capita	Rank	Estimated WY Market
Connecticut (#20)	$60.73	Lowest	$36M
New Jersey (#15)	$126.23	Mid-pack	$74M
Colorado (#9)	$196.26	Mature	$116M

Based on total state population and per capita sales from operational markets. Actual results vary by market design, tax structure, licensing speed, and border dynamics. See how all 20 legal states compare →

Borders

Border Dynamics

Neighbor	Legal Status	Notes
Colorado	T1_ADULT_USE_OPERATIONAL	Major source of cross-border cannabis flow. Colorado's mature legal market is the primary origin state for cannabis entering Wyoming from the south.
Montana	T1_ADULT_USE_OPERATIONAL	Montana's adult-use market (operational since 2022) provides a northern legal market adjacent to Wyoming.
South Dakota	T3_MEDICAL_ONLY	Medical cannabis only; no adult-use.
Utah	T3_MEDICAL_ONLY	Medical cannabis only; no adult-use.
Nebraska	T5_FULLY_PROHIBITED	Fully prohibited, same tier as Wyoming.
Idaho	T5_FULLY_PROHIBITED	Fully prohibited, same tier as Wyoming.

Wyoming is geographically and economically exposed to legal cannabis markets on two sides. Colorado to the south and Montana to the north both operate full adult-use markets, creating persistent cross-border consumer flow and transit corridor dynamics. Interstate 80, which traverses the southern portion of the state, is a federally-recognized illicit cannabis trafficking corridor. Six Wyoming counties carry Rocky Mountain HIDTA designation, and the Wyoming Highway Patrol participates in Operation Pipeline for highway interdiction. Despite these enforcement efforts, the structural reality of neighboring legal markets creates demand pressure that prohibition alone cannot resolve.

Economic

Economic Opportunity

Illicit Market Estimate: NOT_AVAILABLE — specific Wyoming-level dollar valuation not tracked by state agencies. National modeling by Whitney Economics estimated 75% of total U.S. cannabis demand was met by the illicit market in 2021. Border-state analyses confirm millions of dollars flow annually from Wyoming into Colorado and Montana legal markets.^[25]
Fiscal Note: Adult-use bill (HB 209, 2021) fiscal note: A 30% retail excise tax projected to generate $47 million annually. Of that, $30.7 million would have gone to the state school foundation fund and $15.35 million to local municipal governments. The state estimated the market could support approximately 100 cultivation facilities, 50 manufacturing sites, and 200 retail storefronts. Medical cannabis bill (HB 143, 2022) fiscal note: Total sales tax revenue deemed 'indeterminable'; projected direct revenue from $3,000 application fees per license type. Department of Revenue modeled estimates on Colorado's early medical market divided by 10 for population, projecting 200 medical dispensaries and 50 cultivation facilities.
Neighbor Revenue: Colorado generated over $1.7 billion in total cannabis tax revenue since legalization began, with hundreds of millions annually. Montana's adult-use program, launched 2022, generated tens of millions in its first years. Wyoming currently captures $0 in cannabis tax revenue while funding enforcement costs and incarcerations.
Jobs Estimate: The 2021 HB 209 fiscal note estimated the market could support approximately 100 cultivation facilities, 50 manufacturing sites, and 200 retail storefronts, implying hundreds to low thousands of direct jobs in a state of under 600,000 residents. No specific jobs number was published.^[12]

Wyoming generates zero cannabis tax revenue while neighboring Colorado and Montana collect hundreds of millions annually. The state's biennial general fund is heavily reliant on volatile fossil fuel revenues (coal, oil, and natural gas), making the projected $47 million annual cannabis tax infusion — with the majority directed to the school foundation fund — a particularly meaningful diversification opportunity for a small-population state. Currently, this capital is redirected to enforcement costs, incarceration expenses, and out-of-state tax revenue in neighboring legal jurisdictions. The 2021 and 2022 legislative fiscal notes represent the most credible public projections available, but were produced in service of bills that ultimately failed.

Political

Political Trajectory

Polling Support: 54% of Wyoming residents support allowing adults to legally possess cannabis for personal use (up from 37% in 2014). 85% support medical cannabis if prescribed by a physician. 75% believe individuals possessing small amounts should not serve jail time.^[23]
Ballot Initiative: Wyoming has one of the most stringent ballot initiative processes in the United States. Organizers must gather signatures equal to 15% of total ballots cast in the previous general election (approximately 41,776 for the 2022 cycle), distributed across two-thirds of the state's counties. No public initiative has successfully reached the Wyoming ballot since 1991. Two 2021–2022 cannabis initiatives (one medical, one decriminalization) failed to meet these thresholds.^[13]

The political environment in Wyoming is overwhelmingly conservative, presenting formidable barriers to cannabis reform. The Republican supermajority is reinforced by the Freedom Caucus, which has blocked every reform attempt in recent years. Procedural rules in short budget sessions effectively require a two-thirds supermajority to even introduce non-budget reform bills. Despite these barriers, polling shows a significant and growing gap between public sentiment and legislative action: a 2020 WYSAC survey found 54% of residents support adult-use legalization, up 17 points from 2014, and 85% support medical access. The realistic trajectory toward legalization remains highly stagnant without a major demographic shift or an extraordinarily well-funded and organized citizen initiative effort.