Drug Policy on the Ballot

The Drug War Chronicle offers a rundown of drug-policy-related initiatives on Tuesday's ballots. The highlights are the Massachusetts marijuana decriminalization intiative (which I discussed on Wednesday), a Michigan initiative legalizing the medical use of marijuana, and a California initiative that expands the diversion of drug offenders from jail to treatment. The California initiative, Proposition 5, also would reduce possession of up to an ounce of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction. The penalty, a $100 fine, would remain the same, but the change would eliminate the burden that minor marijuana possession prosecutions impose on pot smokers and the courts.