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.
After this year’s state and national elections, a stunning 29 states now have laws that one way or another legalize marijuana. Six states, including Colorado — and now California — have legalized recreational use of marijuana. It’s clear that many more states will soon follow.
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.
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. Initial research shows legalized weed has not increased the number of minors using it. 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.
As a result, virtually, more than half of the country has now set legal weed in motion for anyone who wants it. With a new federal administration coming in, widely led so far by some who have expressed their disdain for legalized marijuana, there’s good reason to be concerned. More than half the country needs to band together to protect these fledgling 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. Rather than wait for the new Trump Administration to make a move that could negatively affect Colorado’s wise and prudent progress, and that of other states, Congress must cue the administration and take the lead on preserving and enhancing this progress.
Federal lawmakers must address issues of banking, security, drug testing, interstate commerce and more. This isn’t about one state gone rogue. This is about a trend that will soon sweep almost every state and more than likely move beyond America’s borders. This is about doing the right thing at the right time.