It appears the winds are shifting, and those winds just might be filled with smoke. The majority of the U.S. public is in favor of the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana for recreational use, and more states have moved to make marijuana accessible for medical and recreational purposes. Incidentally, one of the latest states to ease restrictions on marijuana has been Georgia.
Some have compared the marijuana issue to gay marriage, where a shift in public opinion was quickly mirrored by policy changes in states across the country. However, the marijuana movement has not been as potent as the one for gay rights. At this point, many states have marriage equality, and soon, the Supreme Court is “widely expected to make same-sex marriage a national right,” as Erik Eckholm of the New York Times recently wrote. Meanwhile, the path for the full legalization of marijuana remains shrouded, but it does appear increasingly inevitable.
Take Alaska, a deeply conservative state, for example. Following a successful ballot initiative last November, Alaska’s state legislature passed a bill allowing for personal growth and consumption of marijuana. In a state where you can get in a plane or helicopter and shoot wolves in a practice called “aerial wolf gunning,” legally smoking a joint in your home is now okay too. On this issue at least, some libertarian leaning conservatives have found common ground with liberals. Neither group wants the government to send you to jail for consuming a narcotic plant.
However, Alaska’s law is an exception. Other state governments’ marijuana measures have been much less bold than Alaska’s. The great butter-soaked state we call home has now passed a very narrow medical marijuana bill. Small steps like Georgia’s are barely steps towards true legalization because approved patients will only be able to buy cannabis-based oil without THC, a psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Georgia remains a long way from endorsing anyone’s right to get high off marijuana. Georgia’s state legislature is not alone in its wary approach to marijuana, which is why legal weed has so far made its way to the masses through ballot initiatives.
Colorado is the most prominent case. The highest state’s legalization experiment has been successful according to many measures. Besides briefly incapacitating Maureen Dowd, the state saw tax revenues to the tune of almost 53 million dollars last year. Who would have thought selling drugs was such a lucrative opportunity?
Many expressed concern that Colorado’s marijuana legalization would bring a host of problems, including laziness, impaired driving, and increased use by youth. The ever-present cry of those against legalization is and has always been “think of the children.” Although this case may not perfectly apply on the federal level, in Colorado, productivity seems the same, highway fatalities have reached historic lows, and people under 18 have reportedly used less marijuana.
Even in states that have not moved this far, like New York, the effort to decriminalize has already begun. Nevada already has a ballot initiative set for 2016. Expect ballot initiatives for full legalization in California, Arizona, Maine, and others, as well as a few state legislatures acting on recreational marijuana.
While many states have moved aggressively, movement at the federal level has been slow to nonexistent. The one exception has been the Obama Administration’s Department of Justice allowing states to pursue their own marijuana policies. Of course, a new president could end any leniency on the federal front. The federal government classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 narcotic, a position that puts it alongside heroin and bath salts. This is despite studies showing that marijuana is much less harmful than other drugs and has demonstrated medicinal uses. Even President Obama acknowledged that it is not more harmful than alcohol.
Cue the CAREERS Act, introduced by a bipartisan team of senators in early March. This bill would reschedule marijuana from schedule 1 to schedule 2. This would mean the federal government would acknowledge that marijuana can have some medical benefit and open the door for serious research, but it would still be classified as a very hard drug, in the same category as cocaine and meth. It would also let states set their own medical marijuana rules, something many have been doing already despite conflicts with federal law. While the bill does not stand much of a chance, it is the first serious attempt in Congress to reform marijuana laws and represents rising interests from both parties.
Despite the federal government’s official position that marijuana has no medical purposes, the feds grow a lot of weed to research its medical uses. According to Time, the National Institute of Health has operated a marijuana research lab at Ole Miss since 1968 and recently granted the university almost $69 million to grow about 30,000 plants. This amounts to more money than the state of Colorado made in tax revenue from marijuana last year. That facility also sends large quantities of marijuana to a select few patients around the country via FedEx. One 62-year-old with a rare bone disorder has reportedly smoked 216 pounds of the federal government’s marijuana.
In light of these facts, trying to understand the federal government’s position on marijuana will leave you about as confused as a stereotypical stoner trying to figure out the chronology of the Fast and Furious franchise. So look not to Congress, but to the city in which it is located for a glimpse at the entire marijuana movement in miniature. Last November, the people of Washington D.C. took a big step to decriminalize marijuana. Many in Congress sought to nip this in the bud, but D.C.’s district attorney defied Congress, saying that the Congressional attempt to thwart D.C.’s measure did not apply. Then D.C.’s city council took things a step further, and now, D.C. policy is more or less like Alaska’s, flying in the face of the federal government.
D.C. is overwhelmingly liberal and has a bitter relationship with the federal government, but its changes have not occurred in a vacuum – or a hotbox. Alaska is overwhelmingly conservative and more or less outside the grasp of the federal government on many issues. Both places represent different elements of the future of marijuana policy.
Public opinion opposes criminalizing marijuana. More politicians are now open about past marijuana use, including our current president and probable candidates to replace him. It is highly likely that the next president will be yet another pot smoker, making four in a row.
In sum, the path towards full legalization may be as straightforward as Harold and Kumar’s trip to White Castle, but that does not make its end goal any less obvious.
– By Eli Watkins
