Legal Commentary

Denver Post Urges Feds to Legalize Marijuana

By Jeralyn

The Denver Post takes a bold step today in an editorial, urging the feds to end the war on drugs and legalize marijuana.

The Post points out it's not just pot users calling for legalization: [More...]

Conservative, progressive and libertarian intellectuals alike have argued that we ought to legalize marijuana. The Post's editorial board has long called for an end to the war on pot.

Our opinion meshes, in this instance, with that of the late conservative writer William F. Buckley Jr., who once argued that "the government should treat marijuana more or less the same way it treats alcohol: It should regulate it, control it, tax it, and make it illegal only for children."

I'm not crazy about the regulation and control idea, I'd rather see simple decriminalization, but taxing it and making it illegal only for those under 18 is a sound approach. Especially if the taxes go to fund treatment programs for those who use dangerous drugs.

Marijuana is not a dangerous drug. It's been improperly classified as such for decades. As the Post says,

Legions of studies have shown that marijuana isn't addictive. And as recent U.S. presidents have shown, use of the drug, even when inhaled, doesn't in and of itself ruin a person's chance at achieving full and productive lives. Yes, pot users face risks as potentially as devastating as other drugs. So do drinkers of wine and beer.

As to the cost of the war on drugs, the Post notes:

President Barack Obama has requested more than $14 billion to fund the drug war at the federal level in 2009. State and local enforcement costs drive that figure far higher.

The editorial closes with the reason why the feds, not just state and local governments must act:

We did not support the successful effort to legalize minor marijuana possession in Denver, and we have not supported statewide ballot efforts to legalize the drug. The problem with local laws is that they conflict with federal laws and create legal headaches that further muck up the courts and jam prisons.

But our elected federal representatives could change all that. And they should.

If you write your Congressperson today and send a copy of the editorial, asking them to introduce a bill to decriminalize adult marijuana use, will they do it? Maybe not today, but the time is coming.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 21, 2009 (boomark / email).