But Win or Lose This Time, a Page in History Has Turned -- Drug Policy Reform Is an Issue Who Time Has Come, and Time Is on Our Side. California's Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization "Tax and Regulate" initiative, has been a roller coaster ride for drug policy reformers. In May polls showed Prop 19 in the lead, but not by much and with support under 50%. For the next four months, the numbers did something we didn't expect; opposition to the measure steadily decreased. One pollster interviewed in early October for my organization's newsletter, commented, "If I was in Las Vegas and I was a betting man, I'd bet on [Prop 19] to win, but I'd only bet money I could afford to lose." A number of funders took that bet last month, adding steam to what had been a mostly low-profile campaign. [continues 341 words]
For alcohol prohibition, our US version, it was about 13 years. Between mafia crime, poisonings from adulterated beverages, and the dropping age at which people were becoming alcoholics, Americans decided that the "Noble Experiment" -- whether it should actually be regarded as noble or not -- was a bad idea. And they ended it. New York State did its part 75 years ago today, ratifying the 21st amendment to repeal the 18th amendment, bringing the Constitution one state closer to being restored. It took another half a year, until December 5th, to get the 36 states on the board that were needed at the time to get the job done. But Americans of the '30s recognized the failure of the prohibition experiment, and they took action by enacting legalization of alcohol. [continues 588 words]
According to the federal government, 53-year-old Deborah Palmer (not her real name) doesn't exist. A grandmother and former California corrections officer, Ms. Palmer suffers from chronic spinal pain (the result of a pair of botched back surgeries) and fibromyalgia. Because her body is allergic to opioid medications, she recently began using medical marijuana to obtain relief from her daily suffering. That is until federal and state law enforcement officials raided the California dispensary that provided her medicine. "What am I going to do?" she lamented in one of our recent conversations. "If I have to live in this amount of pain 365 days a year without access to my medicine, then I'm not going to stay on this Earth very long." [continues 1019 words]
Though a critic of US drug policies, the US is still my home, its government is mine, its leaders were elected by my fellow US citizens. So I can't help but get a little embarrassed -- though mostly entertained -- when United States drug warriors say ridiculous things in other countries that make them look stupid. One such drug warrior was Rep. Mark Souder. Souder told members of a Canadian Senate Committee last July that "BC Bud," British Columbia's famous high-grade marijuana, is as dangerous as cocaine, threatening Canada with a tighter border crackdown if they proceeded with decriminalization as officials have called for. Souder's wacky claim drew proper astonishment from Member of Parliament from Vancouver Libby Davies, who wondered out loud to Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, "My God, what is this man talking about?" The Senators weren't impressed either -- their final report went further than decriminalization and instead called for marijuana legalization outright. [continues 452 words]
