There are some individuals in the United States who have spent years behind bars for simple possession of marijuana. While there are some areas that provide more cannabis freedom than others, it's still a heavily regulated market and in many ways still violates natural rights and clogs up the justice system with too much waste.
In New Jersey just this week, lawmakers there have advanced legislation that is seeking to reduce some of the penalties that are associated with cannabis possession.
If passed, individuals might be allowed to possess up to 5lbs of cannabis without having to face years behind bars because of it. As it stands currently in this region if you are caught in possession of between 1oz to 5lbs of weed you could face up to 5 years behind bars and thousands in fines. Even less than 1 oz might still get someone months behind bars.
Giving people prison time and fines for their cannabis use has never stopped cannabis from flooding the markets.
People who love policing the personal habits of others through the state, who support these state actions, might want to pause for a moment and consider how there are a multitude of other services you are surrounded by which could use a little investing given their current state of inefficiency and decay.
Spending billions on locking people up over plants has always been a fruitless and misguided endeavor.
More brains, less violence.
Taxpayers have collectively spent more than $1 billion on keeping pot users behind bars.
All the while this failed drug war has fueled the violation of countless constitutional rights, and this advancement of tyranny effects everyone, right down to the individual, yes even the fools who advocate for such legislative tomfoolery.
NJ might be making changes to allow for limited amounts of possession, but it's just a drop in the bucket.
The limits aren't sufficient for a variety of reasons and they still harshly criminalize growing a simple plant in the state, as they do in other regions, along with imposing a myriad of other arguably corrupt and unjust legislative rules surrounding cannabis. Still, it's better than nothing if it can keep even one more person out of jail for victimless crimes.