California's marijuana legalization aims to repair damage from the war on drugs
It didn't just legalize weed, the state also enacted one of the most progressive criminal justice reforms in the country
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
California is now the largest state in the nation to have legal and regulated recreational marijuana. And while that alone is a blow to the prohibitionist policies of the failed war on drugs, a lesser-known provision in the state’s new law, along with efforts in a few local jurisdictions, aims to repair some of the damage that the criminalization of marijuana has done to so many communities. A year ago, voters approved Proposition 64 to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes and reduce criminal penalties for various marijuana-related offenses for adults and juveniles. It also authorized a new process for individuals in the state to get previous marijuana-related convictions retroactively reduced, reclassified as lesser offenses or dismissed altogether.
