Gone to Pot

Will

Will writes from Washington, D.C. (well, Arlington, Virginia). You can reach him at willblogcorrespondence at gmail dot com.

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5 Responses

  1. greginak says:

    I'm all for legalizing it, but i think all the criticism misses the point.

    Obama is cautious in many way. What particular gain is there for him to open up that can of worms now. Doesn't he have plenty to do without the massive pissy PR eruption that would occur if he said he was for this. It would be a massive distraction. Also i actually think he does like to be sure about his policy knowledge and why to do something. this may not be the issue he is spending his time boning up on.

    If we want it legalized then well run, efficient advocacy groups need to do the hard work . Here is Alaska pot has an odd quasi legal status. every couple years there is a referendum to completely legalize it. and the pro-use groups always come off as a bit to stoned. they make a lot of lame rationalizations- "hey we can make hemp rope.We're save?" Report

  2. BobRoth says:

    Some musings:

    At least one state, New Mexico, recently abolished the death penalty. I understand that the leading reason for doing so was the cost associated with the judicial wrangling . I have read other accounts of states and localities making changes with regard to jail time because of budget shortages. Perhaps the current budget shortfalls will engender some sort of reform in drug laws.

    The generational shift you mention seems very significant on this, drug laws, and other issues, homosexuality, environment.

    The disparity of laws among the states regulating behavior has long troubled me, but hell I'm a fan of a strong central government. (But let me hasten to add, with limits.) Drug laws and abortion laws left to the tender mercies of gun totting Bible Beaters seems far cry from the America I want. I am not trying to paint you, Will, as that extreme , but you bring up an excellent point. I recognize states have legitimate legislative duties, but I guess I see the 14th Amendment's "privileges and immunities," "due process," and "equal protection" clauses as acting as a break on states. A statement sure to roil.

    Sorry, but Go Hawks! Report

  3. Jaybird says:

    The problem is that the government learned their lesson well from Prohibition the first time. If they wanted to keep their police power, they needed to stop busting people who mattered.

    When the cops bust a guy who matters, you see, he goes out and votes for the repeal of prohibition. And the government loses that much more power. This time around, the government did it right for the most part. Only bust the Irish-equivalents. Don't bust the proper, upstanding folk who have proven they can handle it. This has worked for *DECADES*. The downside is that the police have started buying their own line of BS and have started saying "we need to start busting *ANYONE* who has it!"

    And, once again, the folks who matter will go out and vote for the repeal of prohibition. Report

  4. mark says:

    Greginak's got it. During the campaign, FOX was raising the question of how big a drug dealer Obama had been. He probably sees the issue pretty clearly, and is pretty clearly too smart to go there. Report