Yes, this is exactly the point.

The US operates under a federalist system in which the federal government has the ultimate authority to decide what is legal and what is illegal. However, state governments are given a good amount of autonomy to “test out” policies at a large (but not federal) scale.

A great example of this is women’s suffrage. There were several state that allowed for women to vote prior to the 19th amendment.

This is an example of functioning democracy. Ideally the federal government will recognize that drug decriminalization is a good thing, and will change the federal law to reflect this.