Salon.com > Drug laws

2012: The year we all got high

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:40:00 +0000

If liberalizing marijuana laws becomes the next big social issue, we will have 2012 to thank for it, as this was the year that the issue finally moved from the fringes to the center of American politics.

“In the now nearly fifty-year-old effort to end cannabis prohibition laws led by non-profit citizen advocacy groups, 2012 must be viewed as a watershed year for cannabis law reformers,” said Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML, a leading marijuana reform group.

Tom Angell, the chairman of Marijuana Majority, agreed. "This was the year that we broke through and succeeded in getting prominent political observers and the media to pay attention to the fact that this is quickly becoming a mainstream issue.”

The biggest victories for advocates, of course, came in Washington and Colorado, where voters approved ballot measures to legalize cannabis for private recreational use. Washington’s law has already gone into effect, while Colorado’s will soon. Advocates hope that if all goes according to plan, other states will see there’s nothing to be afraid of and follow the example.

Dem senator demands answers on White House pot policy

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:50:00 +0000

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., demanded answers from the federal government about how it will handle drug enforcement in Washington and Colorado, now that both states have legalized marijuana.

In a letter to Gil Kerlikowske, the administration's director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Leahy wrote:

The Senate Judiciary Committee has a significant interest in the effect of these developments on Federal drug control policy. How does the Office of National Drug Control Policy intend to prioritize Federal resources, and what recommendations are you making to the Department of Justice and other agencies in light of the choice by citizens of Colorado and Washington to legalize personal use of small amounts of marijuana? What assurance can and will the administration give to state officials involved in the licensing of marijuana retailers that they will not face Federal criminal penalties for carrying out duties assigned to them under state law?

End the war on weed!

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:35:00 +0000

The decades-long fight to end the Drug War - and specifically, the absurd war on marijuana - received a huge boost in the 2012 election, as Colorado and Washington became the first states to vote to legalize and regulate cannabis. Following those historic votes, a new poll shows the vast majority of Americans want states - not the federal government - to decide for themselves whether to legalize pot. Meanwhile, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) took to national television to amplify the message of that poll, demanding that the federal government to respect states whose voters have spoken.

The problem, of course, is that the Obama administration may cite the 1970 Controlled Substances Act as statutory rationale to try to force states to continue an expensive and inhumane war on weed that unnecessarily arrests and incarcerates thousands of Americans each year.

Weird news: Attorney drops joint on courtroom floor

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 22:18:00 +0000

New Orleans Assistant City Attorney Jason Cantrell did a bad job of checking his pockets before heading to court earlier this week. According to the Times-Picayune, a marijuana joint fell out of the prosecutor's pocket onto the courtroom floor right in front of police officers.

Despite only being cited and let go under low-level marijuana policy, and despite having worked as an attorney for 17 years (including six years as a public defender in juvenile court), Cantrell has since resigned because of his ill-timed clumsiness.