Yesterday I noted that the New Hampshire House of Representatives has voted to decriminalize possession of up to a quarter ounce of marijuana. (You can read more about that bill at the website of the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy.) NORML notes that the Vermont Senate approved a similar bill last month, with a one-ounce limit. If those bills succeed, New Hampshire and Vermont would join the 12 states that already have made possessing small quantities of marijuana a noncriminal violation, typically punishable by a modest fine.[...]
In short, "decriminalization" in the sense of lenience toward marijuana users has been the policy in many jurisdictions for years, without any obvious negative repercussions. Furthermore, large majorities of Americans tell pollsters that pot smokers should pay a fine rather than go to jail. Is this policy really so controversial that Barack Obama had to back away from his support for it?
