Hopefully it's the beginning of the end of a 77-year old failed social experiment: federal prohibition of MJ.
Enacted to prevent black jazz musicians from having sex with white women, doncha know ...
Greater than a social experiment, is testing drug legalization as an economic experiment. One of the predictive outcomes of legalization is the MJ would drop in price and drive the legal trade out of business. It turns out, as many others predicted, that legal MJ would be taxed and regulated thus the price would not drop. Turns out in Colorado, this prediction is more than true. Legal MJ is ten time more expensive than illegal MJ. This is increasing illegal activily just as high cigarette tax causes bootlegging from other states and Canada.
I would also suspect that the illegal trade will start producing more potent MJ not allowed by the state. This will drive more to the illegal trade.
Bottom line, there is a personal liberty argument with drug use, but the idea that legalization will reduce crime does not fit the economic outcomes.
That has stripped us of our Constitutional rights (No-Knock, Asset Forfeiture), a police force that abuses the people, widespread disrespect for law enforcement, astronomical prison costs and cops, politicians and drug dealers working together to protect the status quo.
While not a panacea, ending marijuana prohibition will be as beneficial to the society as ending alcohol prohibition.