Just as the process of repealing national alcohol prohibition began with individual states repealing their own prohibition laws, so individual states must now take the initiative with respect to repealing marijuana prohibition laws.

Soros draws an analogy between the end of U.S. alcohol Prohibition and contemporary drug policy reform. By pointing to how repeal gained momentum when states first rolled back their own bans—pressuring and prefiguring federal change—he argues that marijuana legalization is most likely to advance through state-level initiatives rather than waiting for Congress or federal agencies. The quote frames prohibition as a policy choice that can be reversed through political sequencing: local experimentation, demonstrated outcomes, and accumulating legitimacy. It also implies a pragmatic reform strategy: build a patchwork of state reforms that ultimately makes federal prohibition untenable or obsolete.