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[lordcooper]

it's the fact that it's mixed with tobacco that creates an addiction

It doesn't have to be mixed with tobacco, many (most?) people smoke it without.  You can also eat, drink or vaporise cannabis, so it doesn't even have to be smoked.

[Something Evil]

Also, quick question: were cannabis legalised, would anyone in prison for cannabis possession be released, or would they be stuck in there?

It depends on how the law is passed. Sometimes laws are passed with the intent that all those found guilty will be set free.

In this case it sounds like a no. Trafficing illegal substances sounds like something that deserves jail time even if that substance is now legal.

It could concievably get people shortened sentences but I have no idea how that works.

---

Or more specifically because they would be in jail for the general crime of trafficing illegal substances, they would still be in jail because trafficing is still a crime.

That is my best guess.

Yes and no. If the current U.S. laws regarding jail time for, say, pot are merely repealed and replaced, then they'd be stuck in jail since the US legal system is weird and that Constitution doesn't like retroactive laws. Then again, since it's not punitive in nature, it might be applicable, since the U.S. Supreme Court only seems to get hung up on punitive retroactive laws. It's weird.

However, technically, an amnesty law could be passed, retroactively decriminalizing the act. There is precedent, as shaky and morally dubious as that precedent is, but it's there.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Yes and no. If the current U.S. laws regarding jail time for, say, pot are merely repealed and replaced, then they'd be stuck in jail since the US legal system is weird and that Constitution doesn't like retroactive laws. Then again, since it's not punitive in nature, it might be applicable, since the U.S. Supreme Court only seems to get hung up on punitive retroactive laws. It's weird.

It is not weird at all. The Ex Post Facto clause specifically only applies to prosecuting people for actions committed before the law was made law. That's what the term means, literally "After The Fact".

However, technically, an amnesty law could be passed, retroactively decriminalizing the act. There is precedent, as shaky and morally dubious as that precedent is, but it's there.

Once a substance is legalized, there is going to be little motivation for the state to keep those convicted of its use imprisoned. Sentence elimination of nonviolent possession charges are almost certain to follow if only as a cost-saving measure. Dealers will probably be keeping their sentences, but users can expect to have their charges at least reduced, if not eliminated.

That said, even if such a thing does not happen the number of prisoners is going to start dropping like a rock since people will start getting released but no new users will be replacing them.

[Helgoland]

How long is the average possession sentence in the US?

[Something Evil]

Sentence elimination of nonviolent possession charges are almost certain to follow if only as a cost-saving measure.

Which will likely be the real primary factor for promulgating amnesty laws for users, potentially even dealers not involved in violent crime.

How long is the average possession sentence in the US?

http://www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com/identify/what_are_the_penalties_for_possession_or_marijuana.html

tl;dr
First offence, no criminal record: a fine, and at most one year in jail.
Subsequent offences and/or previous criminal record: fine and up to 10 years.

Edit: "The average incarceration for federal drug possession sentences is 81 months, and the average incarceration for state drug possession sentences is about twenty months."
This is, of course, of the percentage of people that actually get sent to jail for this.
And there's state laws to take into consideration, because federal state.

[DJ]

I don't see any real cost-saving measures being implemented in the prison system with the prison industry lobby as strong as it is.

[Something Evil]

I don't see any real cost-saving measures being implemented in the prison system with the prison industry lobby as strong as it is.

Well, despite it not being always functionally true, the U.S. has an elected legislative, the electors being the ones that grant candidates legislative powers, not lobbyists.
You can overrule the agenda of a lobby movement with another political force if those legislators feel it'd serve them to cater to the latter, and lose them their offices if they side with the former.

The anti-PIPA/SOPA campaigns were good examples where a lobby-backed legislative act was kicked out due to political pressure and backlash from the electorate, channeled and focused by a series of groups that were interested in those laws not passing.

So lobbyist agendas aren't an immutable facts, especially when the alternative to them is your nephew getting out of jail and maybe even a tax break.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I don't see any real cost-saving measures being implemented in the prison system with the prison industry lobby as strong as it is.

Both the states and the federal government are in bad need of cost-reduction. If they see an easy out they'll take it, lobby or no lobby. Plus, once we've poked a big enough hole in the War on Drugs, the prison industry is going to start losing money. Hard to pay off Congress when you're also in the red.

[PanH]

I didn't know there was really people jailed for possession of cannabis. I mean, here, the cops will take your weed and smoke it.

The only sentenced are the dealers, or the smugglers.

[Something Evil]

I didn't know there was really people jailed for possession of cannabis. I mean, here, the cops will take your weed and smoke it.

The only sentenced are the dealers, or the smugglers.

Well, that was the big, brilliant solution that the legislators behind this embodiment of the War on Drugs in the U.S. came up with: Throw EVERYONE in jail. [/hyperbole]

But yeah. If you'll follow the link I posted to that D.E.A.-affiliated site earlier, you'll see that U.S. legislation is pretty brutal. The fact that it also varies quite wildly on a state-by-state basis, but federal law takes precedence over state laws makes the situation even less straightforward.

Indeed, a lot of European countries (at least the ones that aren't batshit insane and criminalize it because the U.S. did it too) have decriminalized possession at the least.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Well, that was the big, brilliant solution that the legislators behind this embodiment of the War on Drugs in the U.S. came up with: Throw EVERYONE in jail. [/hyperbole]

[PanH]

Indeed, a lot of European countries (at least the ones that aren't batshit insane and criminalize it because the U.S. did it too) have decriminalized possession at the least.

Well, it's not decriminalized (even in Portugal, over a certain quantity). But let's say it's very loosely enforced.

[Funk]

How long is the average possession sentence in the US?

http://www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com/identify/what_are_the_penalties_for_possession_or_marijuana.html

tl;dr
First offence, no criminal record: a fine, and at most one year in jail.
Subsequent offences and/or previous criminal record: fine and up to 10 years.

Edit: "The average incarceration for federal drug possession sentences is 81 months, and the average incarceration for state drug possession sentences is about twenty months."
This is, of course, of the percentage of people that actually get sent to jail for this.
And there's state laws to take into consideration, because federal state.

that is a huge bill for the tax payer ,(it cost about an average of $23,876 dollars per state prisoner and the cost of medical care for inmates was growing by 10 percent annually)

in most places it is imposable to really fail at a life of crime because even if you lose you still get 3 squares a day and a roof over your head.

[WealthyRadish]

Living in Colorado, I can say that pretty much nothing's changed with respect to marijuana. The fact that it was illegal didn't deter anyone before, and it being legalish now did nothing but piss off conservatives. The sketchy part of town, instead of just having motels and liquor stores, now has the occasional medicinal marijuana dispensary. Woopdedoo, at least it's being taxed now.

How it'll change society in the long run is up to debate, but I'm guessing it'll share the same role that alcohol and tobacco do in mainstream society eventually. While I personally don't think people should use either of those (though then again I don't even drink coffee or soda) it's their choice, and getting them to pick a better choice isn't going to be done through criminalizing it. Making it legal opens the door to studies into why people do it in the  first place, eventually letting us control it a bit better. Though the question of whether we should even want to control is still open to debate anyway.

[EnigmaticHat]

in most places it is imposable to really fail at a life of crime because even if you lose you still get 3 squares a day and a roof over your head.

I'd say for anyone who isn't poor prison is probably less pleasant and less safe than their normal lives, not to mention that whole "not free anymore" thing.  In America you're supposed to be constantly seeking to improve your economic status, and being in prison not only prevents that but makes it much harder to get a job when you get out.  And if you have a family I somehow doubt the prison system takes of them.

Only the people who are really badly off stand to gain anything from going to prison.  The issue here isn't that prisons are nice, its that life can be hard.  I really liked what Truean said, even if its not exactly the point I'm making:

Create a society where people don't fall into patterns of hopelessness where their only perceived out is addiction?

I haven't yet met a crackhead with even a fairly ok life.

I think it can be applied to prisons.  Create a society where people don't fall into patterns of poverty where their only perceived out is crime.  The people who aren't pushed into crime DO suffer in prison, because they already have 3 squares a day and a roof over their head.