According to the FBI, police arrested some 786,545 people last year on marijuana-related offenses. Of these, 696,074 were charged only with possession. This is an enormous waste of resources to say the least.
In Oregon, possession of one ounce of more of marijuana is a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Does this make sense to anyone? (See the specifics of Oregon’s laws here.)
[Full disclosure: I’ve never tried marijuana, and I don’t intend to. This just strikes me as a really stupid waste of time, money, and resources.]