FILE - In this Jan. 24, 1972, file photo, a teenager relights the remainder of a marijuana joint. In 1972 a commission appointed by President Richard Nixon to study marijuana said it should be decriminalized and regulated. Nixon rejected that, but a dozen states in the 1970s went on to eliminate jail time as a punishment for pot arrests. On the occasion of “Legalization Day,” Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, when Washington’s new law takes effect, AP takes a look back at the cultural and legal status of the “evil weed” in American history. (AP Photo/Jerry Mosey, File)