Does any one know what happened to the people incarcerated for possession of Marijuana in those states that legalized it for recreational purposes?

Unless the law stipulates that it will be applied retroactively I believe they will have to serve out their time as that was the prevailing law when they were sentenced. That is why Charles Mansion and Sirhan Sirhan are still in jail. When they later came up with set sentencing, it was not retroactive so they did not get grafted in. they were sentence during a period of indefinite sentencing, you had to do a minimum of years and then be granted release by the parole board, if they did not see fit to release you, you stayed in the slammer. Many times now, you do not have to go before the board for your release because you will ”time out” and your set sentence would have ran its course.

Congress allowed the 2014 Drug Guidelines Amendment to stand, so it became law of the land.

_The proposed amendment will go into effect on November 1, 2014, unless Congress acts to modify or reject it. On July 18, 2014, the Commission voted to give retroactive effect to the proposed amendment. If Congress lets the amendment stand,beginning November 1, 2014, eligible incarcerated offenders will be able to ask courts to reduce their sentences.
Offenders whose requests are granted by the courts will be released from prison no earlier
than November 1, 2015._

It’s not automatic release, apparently but can be granted by the court. Look here (top topic on the right) to see the rate of reductions granted. A number of areas were 100%.

Colorado vacated them, Washington State has been going back and forth on it, Connecticut Top Court overturned them.

@Hypocrisy_Central That’s not quite what happened with Sirhan Sirhan or Charles Manson. They were both sentenced to death, but when the California Supreme Court overturned the Death Penalty in 1972, all those on death row were commuted to Life Sentences. California still has live sentences for capital offenses.

Here, again, are the statistics for the retro-active rates by region. Top right and down.

The government did not release the retros.
The retros are still in jail.
Many retros are due to be released 11–15, based on appeals and the law.

@ibstubro You are conflating you Federal charges and incarceration with State convictions. Much different. Federal convictions carry much heavier sentences.

One other thing to keep in mind is that many who are in for marijuana possession are not just someone who had a joint, or even an ounce. There are usually other charges that got them a stiff sentence, like distribution or them happening to have a joint in their pocket as they committed other crimes.

Ah, @jerv. Catch 22.
They strengthened drug laws to give prosecutors a way to send known felons to prison for possession of joint. Then the Law and Order crusaders (today known as Tea Party) started sending people to prison for possessing a joint?

@ibstubro Like jailing a gangster for tax evasion on his ill-gotten gains. The means justify the ends.