Pubdate: Sun, 30 Jun 2013
Source: Texarkana Gazette (TX)
Copyright: 2013 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.texarkanagazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/976
Authors: Alicia A. Caldwell And Nancy Benac, The Associated Press

MARIJUANA'S MARCH TOWARD MAINSTREAM CONFOUNDS FEDS

WASHINGTON (AP) - It took 50 years for American attitudes about 
marijuana to zigzag from the paranoia of "Reefer Madness" to the 
excesses of Woodstock back to the hard line of "Just Say No."

The next 25 years took the nation from Bill Clinton, who famously 
"didn't inhale," to Barack Obama, who most emphatically did.

Now, in just a few short years, public opinion has moved so 
dramatically toward general acceptance that even those who champion 
legalization are surprised at how quickly attitudes are changing and 
states are moving to approve the drug-for medical use and just for fun.

It is a moment in America that is rife with contradictions:

People are looking more kindly on marijuana even as science reveals 
more about the drug's potential dangers, particularly for young people.

States are giving the green light to the drug in direct defiance of a 
federal prohibition on its use.

Exploration of the potential medical benefit is limited by high 
federal hurdles to research.

Washington policymakers seem reluctant to deal with any of it.

Richard Bonnie, a University of Virginia law professor who worked for 
a national commission that recommended decriminalizing marijuana in 
1972, sees the public taking a big leap from prohibition to a more 
laissezfaire approach without full deliberation.

"It's a remarkable story historically," he says. "But as a matter of 
public policy, it's a little worrisome."

More than a little worrisome to those in the anti-drug movement.

"We're on this hundred-mile-an-hour freight train to legalizing a 
third addictive substance," says Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy 
adviser in the Obama administration, lumping marijuana with tobacco 
and alcohol.

Legalization strategist Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the 
Drug Policy Alliance, likes the direction the marijuana smoke is 
wafting. But knows his side has considerable work yet to do.

"I'm constantly reminding my allies that marijuana is not going to 
legalize itself," he says. By the numbers: Eighteen states and the 
District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana for medical 
purposes since California voters made the first move in 1996. Voters 
in Colorado and Washington state took the next step last year and 
approved pot for recreational use. Alaska is likely to vote on the 
same question in 2014, and a few other states are expected to put 
recreational use on the ballot in 2016.

Nearly half of adults have tried marijuana, 12 percent of them in the 
past year, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.

Fifty-two percent of adults favor legalizing marijuana, up 11 
percentage points just since 2010, according to Pew.

Sixty percent think Washington shouldn't enforce federal laws against 
marijuana in states that have approved its use.

Where California led the charge on medical marijuana, the next 
chapter in this story is being written in Colorado and Washington state.

Policymakers there are grappling with all sorts of sticky issues 
revolving around one central question: How do you legally regulate 
the production, distribution, sale and use of marijuana for 
recreational purposes when federal law bans all of the above?

The Justice Department began reviewing the matter after last 
November's election. But seven months later, states still are on their own.

Both sides in the debate paid close attention when Obama said in 
December that "it does not make sense, from a prioritization point of 
view, for us to focus on recreational drug users in a state that has 
already said that under state law that's legal."

Rep. Jared Polis, a Colorado Democrat who favors legalization, 
predicts Washington will take a hands-off approach, based on Obama's 
comments. But he's quick to add: "We would like to see that in writing."

The federal government already has taken a similar approach toward 
users in states that have approved marijuana for medical use.

It doesn't go after pot-smoking cancer patients or grandmas with 
glaucoma. But it also has made clear that people who are in the 
business of growing, selling and distributing marijuana on a large 
scale are subject to potential prosecution for violations of the 
Controlled Substances Act-even in states that have legalized medical use.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom