Voters Approve Legal Marijuana in Washington D.C.-Oregon-Alaska!

flickr photos/emiliep/346381107/

Initiative 71 in Washington D.C. passed as expected by a wide margin, allowing the right for people over 21 to possess up to two ounces of marijuana for personal use and grow modest amounts at home. It does not allow people to smoke in public nor does it allow for selling, though it lets people "give" marijuana to others over 21. The bill still faces a review by Congress in January. With smooth sailing the new law could go into effect by April of 2015.

Oregon voters just created America’s third legal marijuana market. Measure 91 also passed by a wide margin, legalizing recreational marijuana for people over 21, allowing possession of up to eight ounces of “dried” marijuana and up to four plants. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission will regulate sales.

In Alaska voters approved Ballot Measure 2, which allows for cultivation, possession and sales to those over 21 with state taxes on regulated sales.

The majority of Floridians voted to legalize medical marijuana, but Amendment 2 did not pass by the needed 60% to go into effect. Oh well, think 2016.

It's pretty clear Americans are tired of the war on marijuana (and hopefully hemp too). Hats off to all the voters who helped make new realities in this country. Next mission, 2016. America, are you ready to fix this injustice of a prohibition on one of the world's greatest natural resources?
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Home Page of author Jason Matthews.

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NY Times Gets It: Time to Legalize

courtesy flickr photos/minow/5129134923

Great NY Times editorial board article on why the war on marijuana is a failure at many levels. Thank you, editorial board!
It took 13 years for the United States to come to its senses and end Prohibition, 13 years in which people kept drinking, otherwise law-abiding citizens became criminals and crime syndicates arose and flourished. It has been more than 40 years since Congress passed the current ban on marijuana, inflicting great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol.
The federal government should repeal the ban on marijuana.
We reached that conclusion after a great deal of discussion among the members of The Times’s Editorial Board, inspired by a rapidly growing movement among the states to reform marijuana laws.
There are no perfect answers to people’s legitimate concerns about marijuana use. But neither are there such answers about tobacco or alcohol, and we believe that on every level — health effects, the impact on society and law-and-order issues — the balance falls squarely on the side of national legalization. That will put decisions on whether to allow recreational or medicinal production and use where it belongs — at the state level....(continue reading NY Times article)

What do you think--is it time to finally legalize it? Leave a comment.
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Home Page of author Jason Matthews.

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