If people really "thought of the children" they''d be more worried about opiates then weed. The opiate epidemic is taking over and states need to put their resources to that instead of archaic marijuana laws.
I'm not sure I want to see them put their full resources into any more drug wars.
When they declared war on weed, they took it out of the hands of hippies and gave it to cartels and other organized crime. They criminalized users, while effectively encouraging distribution.
It seems to me that it might be best if they just sat out.
Maybe we should learn from Portugal, and decriminalize all usage. Just target distribution. Much cheaper, and more effective.
Also, in cases of drug addiction, treating the causes has always outperformed combating the symptoms.
I think that is probably the most critical element for the speed it has taken. Combine it with cops realizing that is makes friday/saturday nights much easier to deal with, and usage actually dropping amongst youth, opiate ODs down, etc. makes it very hard for anyone to argue morality or cry "think of the children'.