Other states would follow, then... countries in Europe (Netherlands, Spain, Denmark)
It already is legalized in Netherlands and decriminalized (I believe) in Spain and Denmark, as well as UK (although that's about to change back I hear).
It already is legalized in Netherlands and decriminalized (I believe) in Spain and Denmark, as well as UK (although that's about to change back I hear).
This keeps production and supply in the hands of actual criminals that deal across countries. The legalized links are operated by borderline criminals and shady people.
It makes life better for the consumer (I have no problems with this), solves a lot of the policing issues but doesn't tackle solve organised crime, quality issues etc. If you are only interested in legalising marijuana, this policy doesn't create the wall between soft & hard drugs either. That is, marijuana stays in the "drugs" category and doesn't enter the alcohol category (where regular users will be appalled at the thought of their adult children using, for example, marijuana).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis#United_Kin...
Under Labour they reclassified it as class C for a while but then put it back to class B in 2009.