Maryland is on my radar as a state that could legalize marijuana via its legislature between now and 2016. It’s something that Maryland residents want, and it’s sound public policy. The idea of marijuana legalization in Maryland recently received an endorsement from the Student Government Association. Per Diamond Back Online:
The Student Government Association passed a resolution supporting the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana with a 19-4 vote Nov. 5. Two voters abstained.
“We decided to bring it up now especially because of the legalization in D.C. that passed on Election Day,” said Aditya Dilip, a senior government and politics major and member of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, which wrote the resolution. “We figured it was time, and it was something that was interesting and something that needed to be addressed sooner or later.”
Luke Pinton, senior government and politics major and SGA director of governmental affairs, said that while there are no immediate next steps, the SGA intends to use the resolution to express student body support if this state — which decriminalized possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana Oct. 1 — begins to make strides toward legalization.
The endorsement doesn’t mean that marijuana is legal of course, but it’s a significant symbolic step in that direction. With Washington D.C. being so close to Maryland, the pressure is mounting for Maryland to follow D.C.’s lead and end marijuana prohibition.
