Even though it officially became legal Thursday, thousands of people across the state are seeing their past marijuana offenses being dropped off.
Prosecutors are finding it best to drop pending drug offenses in the light of the ballot measure passing and now the new law going into effect.
Going forward they expect the number of marijuana possession cases brought to their office to drop but instances of driving under the influence and smoking in public places may go up.
Of course, the cases they are dropping are those that are now considered legal, major offense will still be handled as before.
“Obviously we’ll be dismissing any existing marijuana cases,” says Noelle Moeggenberg, Grand Traverse County’s prosecutor, “And to a large extent, if someone’s not under the age or doesn’t have large amounts of marijuana we’re not going to be charging.”
“It’s not the normal amount that is found on somebody in most of the cases we handle,” says Isabella County prosecutor David Barberi, “I think most of the cases we would handle have much less than two and a half ounces on them at one time.”
The state prosecutor’s association is hoping to create statewide agreement on how all cases will be handled moving forward.
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