I've been saying for years that recreational legalization would happen within the states and not at the federal level. The feds have held off legalization with scare tactics such as threats as well as random raids on MMJ shops ever since California's 1996 passage of MMJ legalization.
As the years passed by from 1996, more and more states jumped in on passing MMJ legalization. But with recreational legalization, no state has done that in the bold declaration as Colorado and Washington. Recreational legalization will be even speedier in spreading throughout the states than MMJ legalization has. Rhode Island and Maine will likely be successful in passing.
This will cause even more states to pass legalization as it strengthens the legalization movement nationwide. Other states politicians will watch the feds just sit back and not do anything as this spreads to other states and that coupled with the pressure from within their own states constituents , more states will start passing legalization.
Sadly, the politicians of southern states will be the last hanger-ons to the reefer madness tradition of marijuana being the devil's weed, I know because I was born in Georgia. But, the southern states will likely see an increase of marijuana coming in from legalized states as the demand for it there will be extremely great and the southern states will likely be the last place where the black marketeers will make money before it's eventually legalized there from public pressure being so great.
I don't see the feds rescheduling marijuana for many many years to come as they are too well paid off by the pharmaceutical industries to keep it scheduled 1.
The feds could make a bold move when Washington and Colorado start opening up retail marijuana stores and shut them down and if that's their plan they are probably already planning on it. The thing is, it will only work for so long because this will cause extreme public backlash possibly even with violence.
I just hope other states follow Colorado's model because it allows for home growing where as Washington state's model does not. Even if the feds started shutting down Colorado's retail pot shops when they start opening up, Colorado residents are still free to grow their own.
Colorado is very likely to be the U.S. grow hub of the nation in these early days of legalization as it will bring in black market growers who will move to Colorado to grow and supply to the other states where it isn't legal yet. Prices are going to start dropping now big time as a flood of new growers start growing. As more states sign on to legalization that will further lower prices for both the MMJ and black market sales.
Even if the feds declared martial law nationwide, it still wouldn't stop growers ,sellers, and users.
