Like a growing list of things that have forever changed in America, decriminalized and legalized marijuana is fast becoming the law of the land — all the land.
A stunning 38 states now have laws that one way or another legalize marijuana. More states have in some way legalized marijuana than those that keep it completely illegal.
Just like the national move to end homophobia and ensure civil rights for all Americans, legal weed will prevail because it makes sense.
The compelling reasons Colorado voters approved the use of recreational pot are the same all over the country: People want it. People can get it. People will continue to use it. And all of those things remain true no matter how hard the government tries to change any of it. Despite decades of prohibition, endless propaganda, policing and criminal prosecution by federal, state and local governments, America’s appetite for marijuana has never diminished. It was the same with liquor.
Last week, Biden Administration officials recommended the federal government finally quit equating marijuana with heroin and cocaine as Schedule I drugs.
Even though marijuana should be regulated nationally similar to how alcohol is regulated, even reducing marijuana’s federal classification to a Schedule III drug would be huge, cannabis industry officials say.
The proposal is “paradigm-shifting, and it’s very exciting,” Vince Sliwoski, a Portland, Oregon-based cannabis attorney told the Associated Press.
It would facilitate better and much-needed research on marijuana usage, recreationally and medically. It would also be a step forward in stabilizing the cannabis industry, which is here to stay and expand.
After endless years and endless billions of dollars, the war on marijuana was a colossal failure on all levels. It made criminals out of Americans who never were. It created a huge criminal industry outside and even inside the country, where Mafia-like gangs have murdered and bypassed tax systems in a wide range of places around the world. Criminalizing marijuana has wasted billions of dollars and resources that could have been spent addressing true issues and crime problems.
Don’t confuse this with an endorsement for indulging in marijuana in any of its forms. Like alcohol, the proven benefits are few and the proven consequences are many. But whether it’s drinking beer, doing Jell-O shots, sipping hundred-dollar bottles of wine, vaping hash oil or doing home-grown bong hits, people like getting high, and they’re going to continue to do it.
The marijuana industry, fed most by a growing number of states allowing for the “medical” use of marijuana, produces tens of billions of dollars in product each year.
As Colorado discovered several years ago as a leader in pot legalization, it’s impossible to argue that the vast majority of medical-marijuana users use the drug for medicinal purposes. So Colorado reflected reality and made it legal. Colorado has been a model for why the move to legalization was a good one. We haven’t lost vast tracts of Colorado to become vacant-eyed zombies who can’t hold a job. Reefer madness never happened. It never will.
The biggest crime threat are underground operations shipping marijuana to states still outlawing it as residents demand it.
As a result, virtually, more than half of the country has now set legal weed in motion for anyone who wants it
More than half the country needs to band together to protect these important state changes, but the real push to protect and expand all of this needs to come from Congress.
We can appreciate states being able to decide the issues of legality and access themselves, similarly to how the states regulate alcoholic beverages. But it’s time now for Congress to assert federal legislation to protect the rights of these states, and there’s likely a majority of legislators open to discuss it.
Federal lawmakers need to address issues of banking, security, drug testing, interstate commerce and more to accommodate marijuana’s reality.
Legalize federally now. What’s legal to possess and consume in nearly half of The United States should not make you a criminal in states still being governed by woefully ignorant prohibitionist politicians.
Cannabis consumers in all states deserve and demand equal rights and protections under our laws that are currently afforded to the drinkers of far more dangerous and deadly, yet perfectly legal, widely accepted, endlessly advertised and even glorified as an All-American pastime, alcohol.
Plain and simple!
Legalize Nationwide Federally Now!
The “War on Cannabis” has been a complete and utter failure. It is the largest component of the broader yet equally unsuccessful “War on Drugs” that has cost our country over a trillion dollars.
Instead of The United States wasting Billions upon Billions more of our yearly tax dollars fighting a never ending “War on Cannabis”, lets generate Billions of dollars, and improve the deficit instead. Especially now, due to Covid-19. It’s a no brainer.
The Prohibition of Cannabis has also ruined the lives of many of our loved ones. In numbers greater than any other nation, our loved ones are being sent to jail and are being given permanent criminal records. Especially, if they happen to be of the “wrong” skin color or they happen to be from the “wrong” neighborhood. Which ruin their chances of employment for the rest of their lives, and for what reason?
Cannabis is much safer to consume than alcohol. Yet do we lock people up for choosing to drink?
Let’s end this hypocrisy now!
The government should never attempt to legislate morality by creating victim-less cannabis “crimes” because it simply does not work and costs the taxpayers a fortune.
Cannabis Legalization Nationwide is an inevitable reality that’s approaching much sooner than prohibitionists think and there is nothing they can do to stop it!
Legalize Nationwide Federally Now! Support Each and Every Cannabis Legalization Initiative!
Great post! It’s important to note that the decision to reclassify or decriminalize cannabis is a complex and often contentious issue. Different jurisdictions may take different approaches, and the impact can vary depending on the specifics of the legislation or policy changes. Moreover, there are also concerns about potential negative consequences, including increased cannabis use, impaired driving, and public health risks, which need to be carefully considered and addressed in any regulatory framework.