Marijuana’s Moment

Very good, front page story in yesterday's Washington Post entitled, "Marijuana's Moment?"

The highlight is a quote from former drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey: "The momentum to treat marijuana as a legal drug is irreversible."  Wow.  The last time I was on a panel with him was about two years ago and it was quite evident then that the tide was turning, but I expected him to keep fighting.  According to the Post story, the former drug czar no longer accepts invitations to appear on television.  That will save me some time fact-checking him.

Here's another excerpt from the Post story:

America has been at the edge of marijuana legalization several times during the past half-century, but never as close to mass acceptance of the drug as the nation is today.

Since the 1960s, the United States has traveled on a herky-jerky trip from hippies and head shops to grass-roots backlash by suburban parents, from enthusiastic funding of the war on drugs to a gathering consensus that the war had little effect on marijuana use. Now, for the first time, marijuana legalization is winning majority support in public opinion polls and a drug used by about 6 percent of Americans — and one-third of the nation’s high school seniors — is starting to shake off its counterculture reputation. It is winning acceptance even from some police, prosecutors and politicians.

But is this time really different? Why is the current campaign for legalization resonating when previous ones did not? Today’s leap toward legality is entwined with the financial desperation of cash-strapped states, an Internet-driven revolution in how Americans learn about marijuana and its medicinal uses, and a rising libertarian sensibility in which many liberals and conservatives alike have grown skeptical of government’s role in telling citizens how to medicate themselves.

The momentum is now obvious and it is great to see the drug warriors in retreat, but marijuana is still considered contraband in 48 states and under federal law.  There is still much work to do.  It costs money to start and win initiative campaigns, for example.  It used to be hard to raise money because donors thought it was a hopeless cause.  Now potential donors are making the mistake that legalization is "inevitable."  The shift in public opinion helps, but it does not assure political action.  To complete the job, friends of legalization need to step up their efforts.  The next state to consider marijuana legalization--by initiative--will be Alaska this summer.

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