A lot of the sentenced criminals from the state jail were released at the same time.
Medical marijuana laws were on the ballot twice before the people voted overwhelmingly to approve medical marijuana use in our state. It only took 3 years before recreational marijuana was on the ballot too! The public spoke in big numbers plus came out to vote plus the recreational marijuana bill was passed with over 78% of the voters saying yes, however after the laws were passed, a lot of things changed. There was a clause in the law stating that all criminals that had been in prison or jail for possession were going to be released from jail once the law passed. There were a ton of criminals doing time for minor drug charges, then people were getting 6 weeks to a year in jail just for possessing an fourth of marijuana. An ounce was considered trafficking plus carried a bare minimum 5-year sentence. After you could buy an ounce of marijuana from the dispensary legally then carry it on your person, it was actually strenuous to keep all of those people in jail. A lot of the sentenced criminals from the state jail were released at the same time. They flooded into the city all at once. The people I was with and I have a dozen or more released convicts staying in the motel where I work. They all have jobs, however they have to live in the hotel because they cannot get a condo due to their criminal records. I think the record should be expunged now that the crime is no longer on the books! Sadly, that is not the way that the law was written in this state.