Pubdate: Mon, 03 Feb 2014
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2014 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.newsok.com/voices/guidelines
Website: http://newsok.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Page: 8A

NEW POT LAWS DON'T REFLECT LIBERAL ASCENDANCY IN U.S.

IN a recent Washington Post column, Democratic strategist Steve
Rosenthal argued the United States electorate has become leftleaning,
citing things such as changing attitudes about marijuana.

"It is more than an interesting observation that America now leans
left," Rosenthal thundered. "This should be a guiding light for
politicians. With the knowledge that most Americans are, in fact,
behind them, Democrats no longer need to fear running on their beliefs."

Apparently, Democrats who actually have to run for statewide office
don't share Rosenthal's certainty, particularly on marijuana. In
Colorado, where voters have legalized adult recreational use of
marijuana, Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper is openly hostile to that
effort.

In an interview with The Durango Herald editorial board, Hickenlooper
bluntly declared: "I hate Colorado having to be the experiment." He
argued, "We should not try to get people to do more of what is not a
healthy thing," and promised the state would "regulate the living
daylights out of it."

Those aren't the words of a man who believes marijuana legalization is
a sign of ascending liberalism and an assurance of long-term
Democratic Party triumph; they're the words of a man who worries his
state is becoming a national punch line.

Rosenthal may be correct in noting changing public attitudes about
marijuana. That isn't the same thing as broad endorsement of marijuana
use. Many citizens question the severity of legal punishments facing
marijuana users, not the wisdom of avoiding marijuana in the first
place.

Most citizens are unlikely to suddenly embrace marijuana smoking even
as popular opinion continues to harden against tobacco smoking.
According to Gallup polling, 45 percent of Americans said they had
smoked tobacco cigarettes in the previous week in June 1954. By July
2013, just 19 percent gave that answer.

As Hickenlooper notes, Colorado has become an experiment, one that
officeholders in other states will closely monitor. While money
previously spent incarcerating those involved in marijuana trafficking
may be freed for other uses, there may be an offsetting increase in
other problems, such as higher rates of impaired drivers on state
roads. The state's image, and appeal to new businesses, could take a
hit. Colorado has now become attractive to people who embrace legal
marijuana, generating tourism. That creates a corresponding problem:
Colorado is now attracting the type of people who embrace legal marijuana.

Other states may eventually take a more lenient approach to marijuana
use. But that's not necessarily a sign of liberalism's ascendancy. In
Oklahoma, Republican lawmakers were the major drivers behind the
Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which emphasized treatment over
incarceration for many lower-tier nonviolent drug offenders.

Regardless of changes in social attitudes, the challenge for
conservatives remains the same: to competently advocate for their
policy solutions, demonstrating that those proposals will reap better
societal results than liberal alternatives, therefore winning voter
support.

Even as he claims liberal ascendancy, Rosenthal argues Democrats
should now seek to increase the minimum wage, raise taxes, increase
spending and institute paid sick leave. In short, he calls for pushing
the same policies Democrats have touted for decades - policies with a
long-established track record of failure.

If Republicans can't outdo those recycled Democratic talking points,
they'll probably lose elections. But those defeats will be the result
of conservative apathy, not changing social attitudes.
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MAP posted-by: Matt