Oregon latest US state to legalize recreational pot

Oregon on Wednesday became the fourth US state to allow the recreational use of marijuana, amid a growing legalization trend in the western United States. The changes in the northwestern state's law come after voters in November approved a ballot measure making it legal to smoke, grow and own pot, though the drug remains illegal under federal law. From now on, people in Oregon aged 21 and up can legally use marijuana for recreational purposes and grow up to four plants. Hundreds of marijuana fans gathered from midnight at Burnside Bridge in Portland to celebrate the new law, with pot being handed out free -- the new law does not yet legalize the sale of the drug, just its possession and use. "This is history in the making," said Leeyah Pham, cited by The Oregonian newspaper, as she took turns with friends smoking a marijuana pipe. While marijuana remains illegal under federal law, more than 20 states have allowed it for medical use and many others are considering legislation to legalize the drug. Alaska, Colorado and Washington state already allow recreational use under legislation similar to that now in force in Oregon. According to a recent report by the ArcView market research group, 14 more US states will legalize recreational marijuana by 2020. The nation's capital Washington has also voted to legalize pot despite efforts to block it by the US Congress, which has jurisdiction because the District of Columbia it houses is not a state. Colorado's neighbors, Oklahoma and Nebraska, filed a lawsuit in the US Supreme Court in December protesting that the western state's legalization of marijuana was harming them.