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Ask a Southerner when states in the former Confederacy will legalize recreational marijuana and you鈥檙e likely to get a chuckle and a bemused shake of the head. 鈥淣ot happenin鈥� soon, son,鈥� is a common reply.

While a growing number of states mostly out West and up in New England are on a legalization path after the Department of Justice鈥檚 decision to shrug its shoulders at state regulation (as long as it doesn鈥檛 involve kids, the black market, or federal property), none of them so far are in the South, where bedrock Baptist morals still push, not always successfully, against the sin of intoxication.

But look a little closer at Dixie鈥檚 denizens and one sees small but potent signs of a legalization groundswell, in part fueled by the South鈥檚 unique contributions to marijuana culture and prohibition. In Texas and all over the South, there are a lot Willie Nelson-style social and cultural 鈥渙utlaw鈥� attitudes, all of which overlap with Ron Paul libertarianism.

Indeed, some marijuana policy experts argue that Southern states may begin deciding to regulate instead of ban the use of the cannabis plant for medical and recreational purposes.

"This is an issue that hasn't been ready for primetime yet in the South. It may be that it's starting to be, and that's a good thing," Jill Harris, managing director of Drug Policy Action, told the Associated Press last year.

To be sure, the South and Midwest have remained mostly on the sidelines in the nation's marijuana-reform movement. Voters in the one semi-southern state to put it on the ballot last year 鈥� Arkansas 鈥� rebuffed it by a narrow margin.

Resisters cite culture and religious values and traditions, but others suggest political opposition may have more to do with the flow of government resources, says former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper, including the prison industrial complex that鈥檚 rooted deeply in the South.

鈥淓veryone who profits from the drug war, from the prison industrial complex to violent cartels and street traffickers, is invested in maintaining the status quo,鈥� writes Mr. Stamper on Friday, in the Huffington Post.

Yet with the South being a complex creature, there are countervailing trends that suggest legalization isn鈥檛 such a long shot.

For one, states with different traditions but similar political mindset as Southern states 鈥� think Alaska 鈥� are putting legalization measures on the ballot next year.

More critically, the South is one of the country鈥檚 premier pot growing grounds, with Kentucky and Tennessee surpassing northern California in marijuana tonnage each harvest. Evidence also suggests that it鈥檚 used recreationally as much in the South as in other corners of the country. There鈥檚 even references to it in country songs. 鈥淎in鈥檛 never too early to light one up,鈥� singer Lee Brice croons in 鈥淧arking Lot Party.鈥�

And as with all things Southern, history weighs heavy on the pot issue.

While Southerners like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, a non-psychoactive cannabis plant, it was also a North Carolina Congressman, Robert 鈥淔armer Bob鈥� Doughton, who gave rise to the 鈥渞eefer madness鈥� movement and introduced the Marijuana Stamp Act of 1937 in Congress, which planted a seed that grew into the War on Drugs.

Yet on the other side of that prohibitionist coin operated a guerilla homegrown movement that also fed into what鈥檚 become the West Coast鈥檚 pot cultivation empire, suggests blogger 鈥淪outhern Ohioan.鈥�

鈥淕enerations of growers of east Kentucky, east Tennessee, extreme southern Ohio, West Virginia, eastern Virginia, western NC, northwest SC, northern Georgia and northern Alabama taught the hippies in the 60s, the Deadheads of northern California, how to cross breed,鈥� he writes. 鈥淭hey learned [to grow pot] from Southerners.鈥�

So far, 19 states and the District of Columbia have passed medical marijuana laws, which allow the drug to be prescribed by a doctor and sold at dispensaries. Two 鈥� Colorado and Washington 鈥� have approved regulatory schemes that legalize private recreational use.

While New Hampshire joined the list of medical marijuana states last year, voters in Arkansas declined by a narrow margin. Organizers in Arkansas vow to come back with a ballot measure in 2014. Interestingly, over 100,000 more Arkansas voters cast ballots in support of medical pot than voted for Barack Obama in 2012.

For some, pot legalization in Texas, where the movie 鈥淒azed and Confused鈥� was filmed, seems a non-starter.

鈥淟ots of changes would happen in Texas if everyone was getting high,鈥� writes Nora Schreiber on KNUE.com, a Texas radio station. 鈥淲ho knows what would really go on, but we can rest knowing that this 鈥� will not happen within our life time.鈥�

Other polls suggest a shift in attitudes among at least some Southerners. Public Policy Polling showed earlier this year that 58 percent of North Carolinians, a solid majority, support medical marijuana. The same polling firm found a similar majority in West Virginia.

Texas, meanwhile, is home to the US Marijuana Party, and the South Texas College of Law will this fall offer a marijuana policy class aimed at helping states set up marijuana regulations.

So far, medical marijuana bills introduced in Southern states have all failed in legislative committees.

But that doesn鈥檛 faze pro-pot supporters like former US border agent Jamie Haase, who writes on the Daily Chronic website that 鈥渋t鈥檚 inevitable that legalization will eventually make its way to the South.鈥�