Marijuana should be made legal everywhere. It should be legal to buy it. It should be legal to sell it. It should be legal to use it.
For the first time ever, more Americans now say they’ve tried marijuana at some point in their lives than having smoked cigarettes. In fact, today — regular marijuana/cannabis users outnumber cigarette smokers.
Call this progress, my friends.
READ: Gallup Poll Finds More Americans Smoke Marijuana Than Cigarettes
I’m not a pot smoker, nor have I ever been a user. However, I’ve always been in favor of decriminalizing drugs. This is purely an academic question for me. But it’s very real for many of my comrades who do use marijuana and an important issue for the country as we attempt to rework outdated laws passed more than half a century ago back when times and attitudes were very different. Even science has come around on marijuana use (particularly medical cannabis), proving that for some there are more benefits than hazards.
Fact is, the immensely wasteful and catastrophically destructive “War on Drugs” has been a losing battle for many decades. It’s cost us all a fortune. It continues to strain our courts and fill our prisons — oh, and despite task forces and billions wasted on this absurdity, the U.S. still has the highest rates of illegal drug use in the world. The “War on Drugs” is moronic. It’s time to hold supporters of these laws and policies accountable for their failures.
Since 2000, the legalization of marijuana in numerous states (18, plus DC) shows the tide of public opinion has clearly turned on this issue. Imbecilic predictions and dire warnings by opponents of drug legalization (mostly Christian groups, Right-wing pundits, and the despicable slugs who benefit from for-profit prisons) have not come true. Once again, conservatives were proven laughably wrong — just as they’ve been wrong about so much else, including the impact of gay rights, the widespread legalization of gambling, and so many other once-controversial social issues. Some states with no marijuana restrictions have even reported decreases in DUI and DWI rates (explained by alcohol abuse declining because many people, especially young people, now opt for recreational marijuana instead of excessive drinking).
Now is the time for lawmakers to act at the federal level and make marijuana (and related substances) legal. Everywhere. Yes, this requires a federal response. It’s absurd to leave this important issue to the states. States rights proponents couldn’t be more wrong on this. It makes no sense that someone in Nevada can purchase licensed marijuana products, but driving across the border into Utah could risk arrest and imprisonment for the very same act. Let’s forget the “quilt approach” to drugs. Instead, we need a “national blanket” of mass legalization.
Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has been behind the curve on this issue. It’s time to reassess the remnants of wrongful thinking and preposterous fearmongering born out of the days of Reefer Madness and modernize our laws and regulations that fit with the popular attitudes and behaviors of most Americans in the year 2022. Recent polls even show that 68 percent of the country favors marijuana legalization, including a majority of Republicans (62 percent, what a shocker!). This issue isn’t regressing. As older Americans, many with ancient attitudes about drugs die out, the percentages of people who favor marijuana’s legalization at the national level will inevitably increase. At some point, restrictive marijuana laws in effect today will be looked upon with the same jaw-dropping disbelief that we remember about Prohibition and alcohol use a century ago. We ask ourselves — what in the hell were those idiots thinking back in the 1920s when they banned alcohol? Well, that’s what increasing numbers of people are saying today about marijuana.
Democrats must make this a wedge issue in the upcoming 2022 mid-term election. Make marijuana a watershed issue, and a litmus test, like abortion. It’s a winner. It’s not just a winner politically — it’s also smart public policy. A few months ago, a federal bill that would have essentially decriminalized recreational marijuana use was voted on by the full House of Representatives. More than 200 House Republicans voted against the legislation, while only 3 voted for it. Only three! By comparison, more than 200 House Democrats voted for the pro-marijuana legislation, while only 2 voted against it. Like on so many other issues, there’s a staggering difference between the two parties on marijuana. So, please stop believing the myth that both parties are the same. They’re not the same. Believing this, let alone saying it, makes you a fool.
READ: Why Do GOP Lawmakers Still Oppose Legalizing Weed?
Marijuana should be made legal everywhere. It should be legal to buy it. It should be legal to sell it. It should be legal to use it. Of course, we can engage in a constructive debate as to what state or federal regulations should be imposed on producers and sellers so far as safety and quality, and most marijuana users probably want the integrity of those products to be transparent and their consumer rights protected (much like the FDA labeling food products). We can address that later, with ample evidence of workable policy in 18 states as a solid foundation. But first, let’s end this pointless war on drug use and quit arresting and locking up Americans for marijuana possession.
As the election draws nearer, also remember which party and which candidates want to keep on fighting the losing drug war and continue locking up pot smokers.
It’s way past time for all of us to be progressives on the marijuana issue. That will require getting rid of as many Republicans as possible.