MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell reminded viewers why, even though millions of voters are apathetic as to whether making their voices heard on election day matters or not, if the Supreme Court and its impact for generations to come isn't enough to make
November 12, 2012

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell reminded viewers why, even though millions of voters are apathetic as to whether making their voices heard on election day matters or not, if the Supreme Court and its impact for generations to come isn't enough to make people realize that it does make a difference -- maybe seeing what happened in Washington State will.

Marijuana possession cases in Washington state going up in smoke:

Prosecutors in Washington state's two most populous counties plan to dismiss scores of misdemeanor marijuana possession cases following passage of a landmark voter initiative earlier this week to legalize pot for adult recreational use.

Washington and Colorado became the first U.S. states to remove criminal sanctions for personal possession of an ounce (28.5 grams) or less of marijuana as voters approved ballot measures on Tuesday to legalize recreational use of the drug, setting up a possible showdown with the federal government.

Washington state's legalization measure passed with more than 55 percent of voters supporting it and fewer than 45 percent opposed, and will take effect next month.

But prosecutors in Washington's King and Pierce counties - which contain the cities of Seattle and Tacoma - moved swiftly to announce they were dropping 225 pending possession cases currently in the pipeline.

"The people have spoken loudly in Initiative 502, and there seems to be no point in continuing to prosecute cases for conduct that's going to be legal in a couple of weeks," King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg told Reuters.

Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said, "I don't believe any jury is going to convict on a simple marijuana case after this initiative has passed."

Now if we could see something done on the federal level on this issue, we'd be getting somewhere. As more and more states continue to legalize, I think we're going to see that happen sooner and not later.

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