The news that the Department of Health will recommend legalizing recreational marijuana is certainly exciting for groups like the Drug Policy Alliance, which have long argued that the drug is not dangerous enough to warrant the harsh criminal penalties that have accompanied it, especially for people of color.

But we still don't know the details of what the department will suggest about growing and selling marijuana, or about what will happen for people with marijuana convictions.

Christopher Alexander of the Drug Policy Alliance talks about this step, and what will still need to be addressed.