Our Nation’s Raging Conversation About Marijuana

rick-steves-hempfest-20140228Our nation has been mired in a war against marijuana that has proven to be as wrong-minded and counterproductive as the prohibition against alcohol back in the 1930s. Recognizing the social and economic toll this war on pot was causing our country (not to mention the civil liberties concerns), I long ago embraced this cause. I’ve been advocating for the legalization of marijuana for adult recreational use for over a decade.

Until the last couple of years, people could hardly talk about marijuana in polite company. That’s why, five years ago, the ACLU produced a documentary called Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversation,” and asked me to help write and host it. (Believe it or not, even that recently, TV stations were afraid to run this program — they wouldn’t even sell infomercial time for that topic before midnight.) If the ACLU wanted to start a conversation, they certainly did. And things have really crescendoed since Washington and Colorado actually legalized pot in 2012.

If you’ve followed my work, you know that I was very active as a co-sponsor of Initiative 502, which legalized marijuana in Washington State. Watch the stump speech that I gave all over the state during that campaign.

Here’s the press I’ve noticed, just in the last week, as our nation moves rapidly to take the crime out of the marijuana equation:

  • Last Sunday, I had dinner with the leadership at NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) in Washington DC. That same day, the Washington Post came out essentially congratulating NORML and other drug policy reform groups for an amazingly productive last couple of years.
  • On Monday, I flew to Corpus Christi, deep in the south of Texas, to give a talk to a group of seniors. I explained to them (among many other lessons from my travels) why our nation’s war on marijuana is a counterproductive and costly mistake. I was impressed that a room full of senior Texans saw the practicality of ending this prohibition.
  • On Tuesday, back home, I watched an hour-long show on CNBC reviewing how the first two months of legalized marijuana in Colorado is going.
  • On Wednesday, I read that the president of Uruguay, José Mujica, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for making his country the first in the world to fully legalize marijuana.
  • And on Thursday, in the Huffington Post, I found this article by John Wenzel (writer for The Cannabist and the Denver Post), sharing my take on the rapidly changing marijuana situation in the USA.

What’s next? I just met with my friends at the ACLU and other drug policy reform activists and learned why we’ll wait until 2016 for California…but it’s all hands on deck to legalize in Oregon later this year. To do what I can to help out, I agreed to spend five days on an “end the prohibition against marijuana” lecture tour in Oregon. I’ll announce dates soon. Learn more at New Approach Oregon.

If you’re in a state (or a state of mind) that is worried that all hell is about to break loose, trust me: The goal is to stop an expensive, racist, and non-productive war on marijuana and to regulate and tax its adult recreational use smartly. I firmly believe that, while use may spike with the giddiness that comes with being able to enjoy a joint legally, consumption will stay about the same in the long run — and we’ll end a violent black market and the other unintended evils that come with a prohibition. Stay tuned…

Comments

7 Replies to “Our Nation’s Raging Conversation About Marijuana”

  1. I’m not so sure Steves is on the side of the angels here. Personally, by legalizing it I would love to knock the props out from under the cartels who sell this stuff. And I think nicotine and alcohol are as counter-productive to health. But make no mistake, cannabis cannot be easily dismissed as harmless to growing brains or as a pathway to other substances like heroin. And it’s deplorable that a guy like Steves who seems to want to be a role model is a champion of a product which can adversely affect young people whose brains are not yet fully formed. I’m an advocate of further study but to genuflect to self-indulgence just reinforces my belief that “Rick did it, does it” and wants to sanctify it.

  2. I currently have no interest in using marijuana myself, but I am all for legalizing it. I am amazed that a country that saw how badly Prohibition worked should have wasted so much time and money and lives (all those people stuck in prison for what should not have been a crime – and no, I don’t mean the real dealers) on another, similar effort. I look forward to increased tax revenues from legal pot and decreased expenditures on the stupid “war on drugs”.

  3. It all depends on the glasses you are looking through. If you have addiction in your family. If your profession deals with addiction. If you are from law enforcement the war on drugs is now about homelessness, thievery, assault. Gangs. We spend a lot of money on drugs and like it or not drugs are drugs. If you are a parent trying to keep your kids on a good healthy path. Ask a teacher at a junior high or high school how much the parents know what goes on between kids. Medical use in California has just proven to be marijuana for all. We need a sharp society to move forward. Not a new generation in a fog.

  4. The war on drugs has been an epic failure. It has not kept drugs out of the hands of those who want them, including kids. Instead it has empowered and enriched vicious cartels and neighborhood gangs, and made criminals out of people who would prefer to obey the law. The situation cannot possibly be any worse with legal drugs. And when drugs are legal and taxed, some of the money currently spent on massively unsuccessful attempts at interdiction may instead be spent on education and treatment.

  5. “The war on drugs has been an epic failure.” Excellent post Kathy.

    And thanks to you Rick for being the voice of reason and having the courage to speak up on this issue.

  6. It seems to me that there is a parallel between legalized pot and gun rights. Those who have never witnessed recreational pot use by responsible adults fear it. Those who have tend to accept it. Those who don’t understand guns and think that any rifle that is black is a full-auto deathstar tend to fear them. Those who understand how they function and understand why some responsible adults choose to own them tend to accept them.

    In the same way that people who want pot are going to get it regardless of the law, those who want an AR15 are going to get one regardless of the law. We should focus our efforts on making sure that the owners/users understand the responsibilities involved and use them in a safe and responsible manner.

  7. Prohibition cut alcohol consumption in half. There was a corresponding reduction in cirrhosis. Cirrhosis drastically increased after Prohibition was lifted. So Prohibition wasn’t counterproductive in achieving its stated purpose; the problems were the unintended consequences (organized crime, bootlegging, etc.).

    According to the blog Sound Politics, John Carlson told you this on his television show. Sound Politics said that you seemed to be surprised. See their October 19, 2012 blog entry. You need to check your facts. If Prohibition is your example, then marijuana legalization will greatly increase its use.

    Legalization of marijuana will have unintended consequences. In Colorado, use of electronic benefit cards has greatly increased in outlets that sell marijuana. People are using government benefits intended to feed their families to support a drug habit.

    Worse, marijuana use leads to brain damage. Marijuana contains over 50 known carcinogens and its tar is similar to tobacco smoke. Cardiologists seriously suspect that marijuana causes cardiovascular diseases. While there’s a reasonable argument for decriminalization, full legalization will have unintended consequences. One doesn’t have to have racist motives to oppose full legalization.

    Even without the medical effects, marijuana use has its risks. Though the federal laws aren’t being enforced, it is still a federal crime to possess, consume, or sell marijuana in the states that legalized it. The federal Office of Personnel Management recently stated that applicants for a security clearance must still disclose their marijuana use. Loss or denial of a security clearance costs a lot more than the pleasure of using marijuana.

    Those selling marijuana may have something extra to worry about. The tobacco industry paid billions to settle claims, even though tobacco had long been legal and consumers were given plenty of warning. Trial lawyers could just as easily go after those selling marijuana.

    Last October you assured us that the Affordable Care Act would improve health care. We shouldn’t trust you on marijuana either.

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