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What will this look like 20 years from now when marijuana is decriminalised? I always wonder that when seeing these sad stories. How will our future selves vi

What will this look like 20 years from now when marijuana is decriminalised? I always wonder that when seeing these sad stories. How will our future selves view the ignorance of the past in regards to drug laws? Even 5 years ago I never thought gay marriage had a chance in America. But now it seems like just a matter of time and entirely obvious. There will come a tipping point with drugs laws in America where marijuana decriminalization seems equally inevitable. Unfortunately we still have a ways to go.

drewblaisdell 15y ago
It likely is not going to take 20 years... at least, for states that aren't Texas. My state (Washington) is the front-runner to regulate the sale of marijuana in this year. I-502 polled with an 8 point lead last month, with 47% in favor, 39% opposed, and 15% undecided. [1] Of course, the initiative in California polled well last year and still failed, but this is almost certainly going to pass in less than twenty years on the west coast. [1] http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_WA_222.pdf http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_WA_2...
- drewcrawford 15y ago
  > at least, for states that aren't Texas. Depends on where in Texas. This was on the Austin news last week. Sorry for the blogspam, best source I could find: http://pics.blameitonthevoices.com/052011/fox_news_marijuana_poll.jpg http://pics.blameitonthevoices.com/052011/fox_news_marijuana...
- WildUtah 15y ago
  The federal government can and will still enforce its more severe marijuana laws against residents of states without such laws. The Supreme Court has taken this case (Gonzales v. Raich) and decided that state medical marijuana laws provide no protection. The court decided 6-3 against medical marijuana laws with one justice a cancer patient and one's husband a cancer patient at the time providing two surprise votes for sanity; most observers expect such state reforms to never again have more than one vote (Clarence Thomas) on the court since those two soon died and retired. Obama has been an exceptionally lenient president, reducing the prosecution of medical marijuana patients so long as they aren't caught in his frequent raids of buyers' clubs and aren't involved in any kind of commerce or production. Even licensed facilities have been granted no leniency. States that consider state provision and regulation of marijuana have been consistently threatened by Obama's AG Eric Holder with prosecution and incarceration of state officials. That will likely be enough to defeat legalization initiatives and certainly end the likelihood of measures passed through the legislatures. But if legalization initiatives pass, expect a new growing industry of federal prosecutions to reverse the new laws. When the Republicans next elect a president, the states that tolerate marijuana will probably see massive punishment doled out until the laws change back. Actual legal marijuana is not likely to be seen anywhere in America before 2030 and then only if the pace of reform continues to accelerate. Changes in public opinion are really insufficient in the near term. This is politics. Fear, inertia, and moneyed interestes are arrayed strongly against legalization. The voice of the people enters the discussion weakly and slowly, but it can win over a long period of time.
- veidr 15y ago
  I worked in Reno when Nevada became the first state in the Union to put a measure on the ballot legalizing recreational marijuana (up to 2 oz.), I think in 2003 or 2004. It polled above 60% in favor, but when it came time to put down the bong and go vote, it ended up over 60% against. I think it will definitely pass on the west coast some year soon, but the nation as a whole won't accept that and you will still have these problems when you venture into "the REAL 'muricah".
- 18pfsmt 15y ago
  Colorado tried to pass a decriminalization amendment in 2006, and it lost 60-40[1]. However, we have it on the ballot again this year, though I don't know the polling numbers. [1]http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/CO/I/04/ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/CO/I/0...
- read_wharf 15y ago
  The fed atty general in Colorado just the other day said medical marijuana clinics and laws are meaningless in the eyes of fed drug laws. So legalize all you want (and that's a necessary first step), but the fed is going to take a long time to come around.
gcb 15y ago
more interesting, what it will look like when you realize some people does not have $1500 readily available to not go to jail after each blockade
veidr 15y ago
I think it will look exactly like it does now: like a brutal and dysfunctional police state violating the privacy and dignity of its citizens and locking them in cages for trivial offenses that harm nobody. P.S. My mom told me in the 90s that they had these same conversations in the 70s. A 20 year time frame may be optimistic...
- spoiledtechie 15y ago
  Please think again when you say it does nobody any harm. Its well documented, that MJ coming from Mexico does a great deal of harm. You must think of the entire production process. If it were legalized, it would still do people harm. Its been well documented, that doing enough of it will just tune out your senses... Making you a "pot head" and a lazy ass, that I don't want to have to support when you decide to live off the government.
  - antoko 15y ago
    Its pretty bad form to claim how well documented something is (twice in 3 sentences) and then just hand wave and not provide any links to any of this supposed documentation. (I didn't downvote you)
  - imgabe 15y ago
    It does harm because it's illegal. If it were legal, people wouldn't need to buy it from Mexican gangsters. Notice how Chicago isn't filled with people massacring each other with tommy guns since alcohol prohibition ended.
    - bunderbunder 15y ago
      Chicago's still well-known for its organized crime, and it's still largely fueled by drug prohibition. It'd be more correct to say that people in Chicago aren't brutally massacring each other over alcohol since alcohol prohibition ended.
dsr_ 15y ago
Personal possession of less than 1 oz of marijuana is a misdemeanor offense ($100 fine, not arrestable) in Massachusetts. That was passed at 67%. The police claimed that it would unleash anarchy in the state, that they didn't know how to deal with misdemeanors and didn't have any forms to fill out. Nothing bad has happened. We still have blue laws and dry towns, but they are increasingly regarded as eccentric anachronisms. Remember that the people who were 50 years old and voting each other in to office in the 1990s... are now 70 and retired. People overestimate change in the short run, underestimate in the long run.

drewblaisdell 15y ago

It likely is not going to take 20 years... at least, for states that aren't Texas. My state (Washington) is the front-runner to regulate the sale of marijuana in this year. I-502 polled with an 8 point lead last month, with 47% in favor, 39% opposed, and 15% undecided. [1] Of course, the initiative in California polled well last year and still failed, but this is almost certainly going to pass in less than twenty years on the west coast. [1] http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_WA_222.pdf http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_WA_2...

drewcrawford 15y ago
> at least, for states that aren't Texas. Depends on where in Texas. This was on the Austin news last week. Sorry for the blogspam, best source I could find: http://pics.blameitonthevoices.com/052011/fox_news_marijuana_poll.jpg http://pics.blameitonthevoices.com/052011/fox_news_marijuana...
WildUtah 15y ago
The federal government can and will still enforce its more severe marijuana laws against residents of states without such laws. The Supreme Court has taken this case (Gonzales v. Raich) and decided that state medical marijuana laws provide no protection. The court decided 6-3 against medical marijuana laws with one justice a cancer patient and one's husband a cancer patient at the time providing two surprise votes for sanity; most observers expect such state reforms to never again have more than one vote (Clarence Thomas) on the court since those two soon died and retired. Obama has been an exceptionally lenient president, reducing the prosecution of medical marijuana patients so long as they aren't caught in his frequent raids of buyers' clubs and aren't involved in any kind of commerce or production. Even licensed facilities have been granted no leniency. States that consider state provision and regulation of marijuana have been consistently threatened by Obama's AG Eric Holder with prosecution and incarceration of state officials. That will likely be enough to defeat legalization initiatives and certainly end the likelihood of measures passed through the legislatures. But if legalization initiatives pass, expect a new growing industry of federal prosecutions to reverse the new laws. When the Republicans next elect a president, the states that tolerate marijuana will probably see massive punishment doled out until the laws change back. Actual legal marijuana is not likely to be seen anywhere in America before 2030 and then only if the pace of reform continues to accelerate. Changes in public opinion are really insufficient in the near term. This is politics. Fear, inertia, and moneyed interestes are arrayed strongly against legalization. The voice of the people enters the discussion weakly and slowly, but it can win over a long period of time.
veidr 15y ago
I worked in Reno when Nevada became the first state in the Union to put a measure on the ballot legalizing recreational marijuana (up to 2 oz.), I think in 2003 or 2004. It polled above 60% in favor, but when it came time to put down the bong and go vote, it ended up over 60% against. I think it will definitely pass on the west coast some year soon, but the nation as a whole won't accept that and you will still have these problems when you venture into "the REAL 'muricah".
18pfsmt 15y ago
Colorado tried to pass a decriminalization amendment in 2006, and it lost 60-40[1]. However, we have it on the ballot again this year, though I don't know the polling numbers. [1]http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/CO/I/04/ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/CO/I/0...
read_wharf 15y ago
The fed atty general in Colorado just the other day said medical marijuana clinics and laws are meaningless in the eyes of fed drug laws. So legalize all you want (and that's a necessary first step), but the fed is going to take a long time to come around.

gcb 15y ago

more interesting, what it will look like when you realize some people does not have $1500 readily available to not go to jail after each blockade

veidr 15y ago

I think it will look exactly like it does now: like a brutal and dysfunctional police state violating the privacy and dignity of its citizens and locking them in cages for trivial offenses that harm nobody. P.S. My mom told me in the 90s that they had these same conversations in the 70s. A 20 year time frame may be optimistic...

spoiledtechie 15y ago
Please think again when you say it does nobody any harm. Its well documented, that MJ coming from Mexico does a great deal of harm. You must think of the entire production process. If it were legalized, it would still do people harm. Its been well documented, that doing enough of it will just tune out your senses... Making you a "pot head" and a lazy ass, that I don't want to have to support when you decide to live off the government.
- antoko 15y ago
  Its pretty bad form to claim how well documented something is (twice in 3 sentences) and then just hand wave and not provide any links to any of this supposed documentation. (I didn't downvote you)
- imgabe 15y ago
  It does harm because it's illegal. If it were legal, people wouldn't need to buy it from Mexican gangsters. Notice how Chicago isn't filled with people massacring each other with tommy guns since alcohol prohibition ended.
  - bunderbunder 15y ago
    Chicago's still well-known for its organized crime, and it's still largely fueled by drug prohibition. It'd be more correct to say that people in Chicago aren't brutally massacring each other over alcohol since alcohol prohibition ended.

dsr_ 15y ago

Personal possession of less than 1 oz of marijuana is a misdemeanor offense ($100 fine, not arrestable) in Massachusetts. That was passed at 67%. The police claimed that it would unleash anarchy in the state, that they didn't know how to deal with misdemeanors and didn't have any forms to fill out. Nothing bad has happened. We still have blue laws and dry towns, but they are increasingly regarded as eccentric anachronisms. Remember that the people who were 50 years old and voting each other in to office in the 1990s... are now 70 and retired. People overestimate change in the short run, underestimate in the long run.