It's only one of the greatest legal developments of the past.....well.....how long ago did we repeal prohibition?
This is just the latest watershed moment in the movement toward granting marijuana the same treatment as alcohol in the U.S. It will take more time, of course, there's still a long way to go. Even in Colorado, there are still restrictions on quantity that can be purchased, and it can't be smoked in public. (Really?)
But next year, the state of Washington will have the same law. Then probably Oregon, then another state, then another, etc. There's no putting this Genie back in the bottle, because Americans are going to realize what the rest of we more enlightened Americans have know for years: Using regulated pot is no more dangerous - in fact, it's less dangerous - than alcohol. Plus, states can collect taxes on it, and spending less on prisons because they can stop treating sellers and buyers like criminals.
Just consider the last few weeks since the law has been in place. I don't live in Colorado, but I don't hear any national outcry about how this law is the road to hell. We're going to collectively accept that it's OK, after all these years. Maybe it's an apples to oranges comparison, but it seems a lot like the slow but inexorable march toward acceptance of same-sex marriage.
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