Laws take effect on certain dates. So we all agree that something is going to be legal after the date X, but still arrest and prosecute people for doing that exact thing on date X-1. Laws have nothing to do with ethics, and that’s an important distinction.
The same applies to geography: if you can become a felon just by crossing a street between two states, the action or the object that’s illegal just might be arbitrarily designated by the more restrictive jurisdiction. Morality has little to do with laws.
If a journalist or an official can handle illegal items on TV and not be arrested, while an average person gets raided on mere suspicion of possession, morality isn’t in play at all.