I am lucky to live in a state that is full of wonderful people with strong values.
We have been at the forefront of many positive social changes in this country, especially before the movements absorbed into adjacent areas.
For instance, my home city implemented a marijuana decriminalization program in the early 1970s. They made it a $5 fine to be caught with petty amounts of cannabis, and the ticket was mailed to the offender’s house. This wasn’t the first instance of a city-wide decriminalization effort done in the United States, but it became of the most notorious as critics tried to pin a wave of crime in the city on that law which had little effect among public opinion. In reality, the law remained and only saw an increase to $25 in 1990 when the fines were reviewed by the city. This state has both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana at this point. Although medical marijuana patients pay lower prices at cannabis stores by avoiding state and city taxes, they also have to pay money to the state every year to keep their card. There is a tradeoff, but anyone else can walk into a dispensary and purchase products as long as they’re over the age of 21. In my state the taxes aren’t too crazy yet, but some areas in California have combined taxes of over 26% on all recreational marijuana sales. Some states also tax medical marijuana purchases as well, with California being one such example. It makes me proud to be living in my current state knowing that marijuana would only get more expensive if I moved out west.