Support for legalizing marijuana grows rapidly around U.S.

The same day they rejected a gay marriage ballot measure, residents of Maine voted overwhelmingly to allow the sale of medical marijuana over the counter at state-licensed dispensaries.

Later in the month, the American Medical Association reversed a longtime position and urged the federal government to remove marijuana from Schedule One of the Controlled Substances Act, which equates it with heroin.

A few days later, advocates for easing marijuana laws left their biannual strategy conference with plans to press ahead on all fronts -- state law, ballot measures, and court -- in a movement that for the first time in decades appeared to be gaining ground.

"This issue is breaking out in a remarkably rapid way now," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Public opinion is changing very, very rapidly."

The shift is widely described as generational. A Gallup poll in October found 44 percent of Americans favor full legalization of marijuana -- a rise of 13 points since 2000. Gallup said that if public support continues growing at a rate of 1 to 2 percent per year, "the majority of Americans could favor legalization of the drug in as little as four years."

A 53 percent majority already does so in the West, according to the survey. The finding heartens advocates collecting signatures to put the question of legalization before California voters in a 2010 initiative.

At last week's International Drug Reform Conference, activists gamed specific proposals for taxing and regulating pot along the lines of cigarettes and alcohol, as a bill pending in the California Legislature would do. The measure is not expected to pass, but in urging its serious debate, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) gave credence to a potential revenue source that the state's tax chief said could raise $1.3 billion in the recession, which advocates describe as a boon.

There were also tips on lobbying state legislatures, where measures decriminalizing possession of small amounts have passed in 14 states. Activists predict half of states will have laws allowing possession for medical purposes in the near future.

Interest in medical marijuana and easing other marijuana laws picked up markedly about 18 months ago, but advocates say the biggest surge came with the election of Barack Obama, the third straight president to acknowledge having smoked marijuana, and the first to regard it with anything like nonchalance.

"As a kid, I inhaled," Barack Obama famously said on the campaign. "That was the whole point."

In office, Obama made good on a promise to halt federal prosecutions of medical marijuana use where permitted by state law. That has recalibrated the federal attitude, which had been consistently hostile to marijuana since the early 1970s, when President Richard Nixon cast aside the recommendations of a presidential commission arguing against lumping pot with hard drugs.

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disneydude said:

It is important if it results in less governmental involvement in things that are not important and don't really matter. Less government in these matters is never a bad thing.

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American said:

Less government in a lot of things would be better, but this would hardly dent the budget or size of govt. In fact it would grow the regulation process.

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reefedjib said:

- Marijuana tax revenue
- Less smuggling pressure along the border
- Cash crop for farmers
- Less street crime dealing
- Less offenders put in jail with minimum sentencing, so lower prison population
- Revenue cut for organized crime
- Treat as health problem and not criminal problem
- Retask DEA resources to harder drugs and organized crime
- Add marijuana as a regulated substance

It seems there is room for smaller government. Lots of benefits. It doesn't harm you or you kids so what's the deal man?

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reefedjib said:

- Marijuana tax revenue
- Less smuggling pressure along the border
- Cash crop for farmers
- Less street crime dealing
- Less offenders put in jail with minimum sentencing, so lower prison population
- Revenue cut for organized crime
- Treat as health problem and not criminal problem
- Retask DEA resources to harder drugs and organized crime
- Add marijuana as a regulated substance

It seems there is room for smaller government. Lots of benefits. It doesn't harm you or you kids so what's the deal man?

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American said:

Considering the left is trying to killing the tobacco industry, I find it amusing that they would want to regulate pot now. I thought it was bad for your health.

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American said:

This is so important. :roll:

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American said:

Less government in a lot of things would be better, but this would hardly dent the budget or size of govt. In fact it would grow the regulation process.

Click to expand...

American said:

Less government in a lot of things would be better, but this would hardly dent the budget or size of govt. In fact it would grow the regulation process.

Click to expand...