In a bid to not totally collapse under depression after seeing the USA vote Donald Trump into the highest position in the country I have been looking for some good bits of news.

As much as many have forgotten, other things were on the ballot. One of those things was making the use of marijuana for adults recreationally legal. That was on the cards in 9 states!

And guess what? NOW there are a total of 7 states and Washington D.C. where an adult can recreationally roll a joint and the state police won’t do jack!

California, Nevada, Arizona, Massachusetts and Maine had the vote for recreational use on their ballots. All but Arizona passed it and Maine’s result is still pending. They added themselves to Colorado and Washington state where the drug was already legal.

To make things better, 28 states now have medical marijuana programs after a further  Florida, Montana, North Dakota and Arkansas joined those ranks with these votes.

Marijuana is controversial but with what seems like an unstoppable (but fairly slow moving) wave of agreement that adult use is ok, it seems that in our lifetimes a country wide OK to get high may be in place.

This of course has far more implications that just allowing people to relax.

Of course there is the revenue, that if a state used correctly can heavily impact the health and education of it’s people.

Then there is the time police can put to dealing with more serious crime. I am sure non-sadistic police are rejoicing at not having to write up anymore marijuana offences in these states.

The benefits from what I see are almost entirely positive. True, smoking isn’t good for you but there are other ways to take the drug and anyway…. Smoking tobacco is still legal with no serious plans for that to change.

But what about the implications to the war on drugs? So many young men and some women, particularly those of color, have found themselves locked up for minor marijuana offences. Once behind bars getting lost in the system is very easy. Lives have been ruined for a crime that was essentially petty.

Of course, it’s unlikely those in jail for marijuana troubles would be released (weed is still illegal on a fed level) but the shift and change hopefully will mean that future kids won’t be slammed up for such things.

Of course, the problem is, the war on drugs can very much be seen as a war on people of color, the rules could change if those at the top still decide they want that war to continue.

I just want to try and hold out a little hope today!

What do you think?

Details source: NCSL