When...(not if) Marijuana is made legal...will all those folks in prison be released?

[angstlessk]

or will there be a grandfather clause that allows current prisoners to rot in prison?

[Logical]

1. Do you really think it will be made legal.....

Because it does not appear to be close to happening.

The last CA election was a major defeat.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Not so much. CA will just take another run at it....

in the meantime, you should educate yourself on the changes that did happen in CA right at the end of Arnold's tenure. The CA laws got better, in spite of the defeat of 19. So, 'major defeat' is a huge overstatement. Huge.

[Logical]

6. Was not trying to downplay it....h

I just don't think people will vote to legalize it. Non-criminalize it I understand but full legal might never happen.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. The trends suggest otherwise

So 'might' sure. The mule might go blind as well, they say.

[Shagbark Hickory]

2. What the first poster said. There are no other countries to have legalized it.

Not even the netherlands has made it legal even if they turn their head the other way when it comes to coffee shops.

I'm not so optimistic about it anymore.

[RagAss]

5. Russia just did

http://www.newsbcm.com/doc/726

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. No... they opened up a medical dispensory. We already have those. They didn't legalize it. nt

[Libertas1776]

7. While it may not be legal

in most places. it is de-criminalized in many places. You take Portugal for example. If my understanding is correct, if one is caught in possession of say marijuana or other illicit drugs for personal use, there is a fine. there are NO prison terms or any jail time period. Thats only if yur a big time drug dealer or trafficker. Granny with glaucoma or some college kids are not prosecuted. If it is believed the person is genuinely addicted the state offers counseling from a health panel.

I think what we can hope for sooner rather than later is decriminalization. Are prisons are jammed packed with people sent up the river for minor drug offenses.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Same in Mexico for small personal amounts...

CA's recent progresss: As of January 1, 2011, possession of one ounce (28.5 gms) or less of marijuana is an infraction, punishable by a maximum $100 fine (plus fees) with no criminal record under Ca Health & Safety Code 11357b.

(Prior to 2011, possession of one ounce or less of marijuana was a misdemeanor, but convictions under this section are expunged from the record after two years under Health and Safety Code Sections 11361.5 and 11361.7.)

This is not medical but simple personal possession.

[Shagbark Hickory]

14. They've done that in chicago. Still not the same as legalizing it. nt

[robdogbucky]

15. Seems to have worked well in Portugal

Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?
By Maia Szalavitz Sunday, Apr. 26, 2009


"...At the recommendation of a national commission charged with addressing Portugal's drug problem, jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy. The argument was that the fear of prison drives addicts underground and that incarceration is more expensive than treatment — so why not give drug addicts health services instead? Under Portugal's new regime, people found guilty of possessing small amounts of drugs are sent to a panel consisting of a psychologist, social worker and legal adviser for appropriate treatment (which may be refused without criminal punishment), instead of jail.
(See the world's most influential people in the 2009 TIME 100.)

The question is, does the new policy work? At the time, critics in the poor, socially conservative and largely Catholic nation said decriminalizing drug possession would open the country to "drug tourists" and exacerbate Portugal's drug problem; the country had some of the highest levels of hard-drug use in Europe. But the recently released results of a report commissioned by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, suggest otherwise.

The paper, published by Cato in April, found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled. "Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Glenn Greenwald, an attorney, author and fluent Portuguese speaker, who conducted the research. "It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does."

Compared to the European Union and the U.S., Portugal's drug use numbers are impressive. Following decriminalization, Portugal had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U.: 10%. The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%. Proportionally, more Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana..."

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html

[ReggieVeggie]

3. My outlook isn't as positive as yours

It will be well past the end of my lifetime before cannabis is legalized

[valerief]

10. Too much cheap labor in prison to make pot legal and release the corporate slaves.

[mythology]

11. If they were convicted under the existing laws

I suspect they would need to finish out their sentence or have the sentences commuted. Legally speaking retroactive laws are illegal in the US (although there have been some exceptions). There may be a general amnesty for those in jail only for the possession charge as opposed to those who were convicted of other charges as well. What I think is most likely to happen, if pot does become legal it will be over a long period of gradually decreasing penalties for users so that at some point the laws will eventually simply not be worth enforcing. By that point, there will be relatively few people in jail for simple pot possession.

[Motown_Johnny]

12. if the speed limit was raised in a place where you got a speeding ticket

would you expect to get your money back?

[NYC Liberal]

16. Congress cannot commute sentences.

Only the president can do that by issuing a blanket reprieve of the sentences for all possession charges to time served (and of course leaving in place any sentences for other charges).

[DontTreadOnMe]

17. Ontario, Canada has it on the ballot this summer

If Canada legalizes mj across the country first, it will put huge pressure on the United States.
Cities like Vancouver are already having HUGE issues with trafficking mj into the United States.

Canada is making the claim that is JUST COSTS TOO MUCH to justify law enforcement of mj laws, so it would be less expensive to just legalize it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/04/13/medicinal-marijuana-court-ruling.html

[iris27]

18. The only legalization efforts that have made any real headway are state efforts...it will still be a

federal crime and they will stay locked up on federal charges. It's stupid, but nationwide legalization isn't happening anytime in the next few decades.

[Nye Bevan]

19. Just imagine, Obama using the bully pulpit for legalization and a general amnesty

for simple possession cases. Now *that* would be real and admirable political courage.

[midnight]

20. K&R