Here's the problem with "decriminalizing" it:
Different states have adopted varing punitive measures and not all states are doing all of these but here is the short list.
You do not comprehend the meaning of "decriminalization." It means to revoke any existing law that makes marijuana a crime. You cannot be punished for growing or possessing marijuana if it has been decriminalized. You can only be punished for selling marijuana. Or, in Alaska's case, growing or possessing more than what the court had determined to be "personal use."
If you grew more than 20 plants or had more than 4 ounces in possession then the courts deemed that to be "commercial use" and illegal, but under Alaska's State Constitution "personal use" was legal.
With regard to driver's license being suspended or revoked, that is no different than alcohol or any other drug (legal or otherwise) that makes you impaired. In all 50 States it is illegal to drive a motorized vehicle (including boats) while impaired. Whether it is suspended or revoked depends upon the State and the severity of the crime.
Nobody has had their firearms confiscated for possessing or growing marijuana in Alaska, providing it was for "personal use." There have been large commercial growers who have been busted in Alaska, and that is a felony often prosecuted by the federal government rather than the State.
There are also no drug tests, except those required by the federal Department of Transportation, and nobody loses there license when marijuana is decriminalized.
Decriminalization of marijuana means that all existing laws and regulations pertaining to marijuana are revoked, repealed. There can be no punishment because it is no longer a crime.
So basically all those "medical marijuana" laws and "decriminalization" policies do is create a large segment of second class citizens with few or no rights. The fact that Alaska decided to allow their leadership to impose onerous taxes and enact insanely low limits on possession just means you Alaskans aren't pushing hard enough for proper leadership.
First, it was not the decriminalization policies. The Alaska Supreme Court decriminalized marijuana for "personal use" in 1975. Which is only a partial decriminalization. It was still illegal to sell any amount of marijuana.
Second, Alaskan voters passed an initiative in 2014 to make marijuana LEGAL in Alaska, and that is what dramatically lowered growing and possessing limits. From 1975 until 2014 you could legally grow up to 20 marijuana plants and have up to 4 ounces of processed marijuana in your possession. Anything more than that the court determined was "commercial use" and still illegal. So it wasn't a full decriminalization. Neither is "medical marijuana." Since 2014, after legalization, only 6 plants and one ounce of processed marijuana may be possessed.
In order to be decriminalized it means that there can be no law against marijuana, for any reason. Just like there is no law against crab-grass or dandelions. As long as ANY law remains in effect that includes any form of punishment for growing, possessing, or consuming marijuana, then it has not been decriminalized.
Sorry but that's what happens when Sarah Palin decides what to do about your pot laws.
Sarah Palin was Governor of Alaska from 2007 until 2009 and had absolutely nothing to do with marijuana laws.
In reality, the only way FULL LEGALIZATION is proper is if pot use is treated like drinking beer.
We already made that mistake with alcohol and tobacco. I would rather not compound the problem by making my government a drug-pusher as well. Profiting from the vices of your citizens is not a very moral form of taxation, because it requires the promotion of those vices in order to increase tax revenues.
No, you can't drive, and no, you should never show up to work drunk OR STONED either.
And no, you can't smoke in public either.
But aside from that, what you do on your own time is no one else's business, including the state and federal government or your employer.
All of that was the way marijuana was treated when it was partially decriminalized as well. Except for the federal government. Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, and the States have no control over that.
You don't lose rights because "you like beer"...Hell you might even become a Supreme Court Justice.
Until a prick like Kavanaugh can equally say "I like pot" and still be confirmed to the SCOTUS, pot is still not fully LEGAL, eeven in states where it is.
You don't lose rights because you like marijuana either. You might even become President some day, just like that prick Clinton. LOL!
