Last week, The New York Times published an editorial calling for the federal legalization of marijuana but suggested it should be left to individual states about whether it should be legal within their individual boundaries.

The Times made a number of logical arguments, including comparing the criminalization of marijuana with the outlawing of alcohol in the Prohibition era. The Times said marijuana should be legal for recreational and medical use. It noted that arrests for marijuana far outstrip the number of arrests for more serious and more dangerous substances, including heroin and cocaine, and the enforcement tends to waste law enforcement resources that could be spent better on more serious crimes.

[continues 809 words]