I just read a great article with quotes from one of my favorite activists, Tom Angell of the Marijuana Majority. The article essentially suggested that there is one area that marijuana opponents and marijuana supporters can agree on – marijuana opponents are losing. There have been numerous marijuana reform victories in the last twenty years, with the number of victories increasing every election and every legislative session it seems like. 2015 could prove to be the biggest year for legislation on record, and 2016 will no doubt be the biggest election in the history of marijuana reform.
Marijuana opponents’ attempts to fight the momentum of marijuana reform is futile. They cling to old arguments from the past, such as ‘we need more research.’ That is something that marijuana supporters would like to see too, although marijuana supporters are the only ones that truly want to see actual research performed. Per the Washington Post:
“We both see the same effect, we see what is coming down the line,” Angell said, referring to changing marijuana laws. “We like it, they don’t like it. We’re winning, they’re not.”
There is one more area in which Angell and drug reformers side with the senators. In the Grassley and Feinstein letter to Holder, they ask that Justice compile data on the “overall effect” of allowing states to legalize marijuana – such as whether it’s easier for minors to get pot.
“Yeah, we’d like to see that data all compiled in a nice neat package,” Angell said, predicting that it would show that legalizing pot generates tax revenue, reduces the size of the drug black market and would generally support the case for legalization.
Marijuana opponents like Grassley, Feinstein, and Kevin Sabet need to give it up. What do they have to show for their work, other than piles of cash from industries that profit from marijuana prohibition? When will they move on and start doing real, meaningful work? Marijuana reform works, and it’s here to stay. The sooner they realize that, the better off America will be because they just muddy up the conversation and are arguing on behalf of a public policy that has clearly failed in every measurable way.
