answers: 2012
context: 1999, along with Nevada (for a second time) and Colorado in 2000. Also in 2000, Hawaii became the first state to legalize medical cannabis through an act of state legislature. Washington D.C. residents approved a medical cannabis initiative in 1998, but a series of amendments introduced by Rep. Bob Barr and approved by Congress prevented its implementation for over a decade. The initial Barr amendment was enacted prior to the November 1998 election but after ballots had been printed, thereby allowing D.C. residents to vote on the initiative but preventing the results from being made public. The amendment was challenged </s> decriminalization is sometimes broadly used for this purpose as well. The movement to decriminalize cannabis in the U.S. emerged during the 1970s, when a total of 11 states decriminalized (beginning with Oregon in 1973). The findings of the 1972 Shafer Commission helped provide momentum to these efforts, as did the 1976 election of President Jimmy Carter (who spoke in favor of decriminalization and endorsed legislation to federally decriminalize). By the end of the decade the tide had turned strongly in the other direction, however, and no state would decriminalize again until 2001. Efforts to legalize cannabis in the U.S. included </s> Timeline of cannabis laws in the United States The legal history of cannabis in the United States began with state-level prohibition in the early 20th century, with the first major federal limitations occurring in 1937. Starting with Oregon in 1973, individual states began to liberalize cannabis laws through decriminalization. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis, sparking a trend that spread to a majority of states by 2016. In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize cannabis for recreational use. Prohibition begins - 1911 Decriminalization begins - 1973 Medical cannabis begins - 1996
question: when was weed legalized in colorado and washington