Pubdate: Fri, 01 May 2009
Source: AlterNet (US Web)
Copyright: 2009 Independent Media Institute
Website: http://www.alternet.org/
Author: Phillip S. Smith, DRCNet
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

MARIJUANA AT THE TIPPING POINT

Is a Tidal Wave of Reason About to Change Our Pot Laws?

Sometime in the last few months, the notion of legalizing marijuana 
crossed an invisible threshold. Long relegated to the margins of 
political discourse by the conventional wisdom, pot freedom has this 
year gone mainstream.

The potential flu pandemic and President Obama's 100th day in office 
may have knocked marijuana off the front pages this week, but so far 
this year, the issue has exploded in the mass media, impelled by the 
twin forces of economic crisis and Mexican violence fueled by drug 
prohibition. A Google news search for the phrase "legalize marijuana" 
turned up more than 1,100 hits -- and that's just for the month of April.

It has been helped along by everything from the Michael Phelps 
non-scandal to the domination of marijuana legalization questions in 
the Change.gov questions, which prompted President Obama to laugh off 
the very notion, to the economy, to the debate over the drug war in 
Mexico. But it has also been ineffably helped along by the lifting of 
the oppressive burden of Bush administration drug war dogma. There is 
a new freedom in the air when it comes to marijuana.

Newspaper columnists and editorial page writers from across the land 
have taken up the cause with gusto, as have letter writers and 
bloggers. Last week, even a US senator got into the act, when Sen. 
Jim Webb (D-VA) told CNN that marijuana legalization is "on the table."

But despite the seeming explosion of interest in marijuana 
legalization, the actual fact of legalization seems as distant as 
ever, a distant vision obscured behind a wall of bureaucracy, vested 
interests, and craven politicians. Drug War Chronicle spoke with some 
movement movers and shakers to find out just what's going on... and what's not.

"There is clearly more interest and serious discussion of whether 
marijuana prohibition makes any sense than I've seen at any point in 
my adult lifetime," said Bruce Mirken, communications director for 
the Marijuana Policy Project. "It's not just the usual suspects; it's 
people like Jack Cafferty on CNN and Senator Jim Webb, as well as 
editorial pages and columnists across the country."

Mirken cited a number of factors for the sudden rise to prominence of 
the marijuana issue. "I think it's a combination of things: Michael 
Phelps, the horrible situation on the Mexican border, the state of 
the economy and the realization that there is a very large industry 
out there that provides marijuana to millions of consumers completely 
outside the legal economy that is untaxed and unregulated," he said. 
"All of these factors have come together in a way that makes it much 
easier for people to connect the dots."

"Things started going white hot in the second week of January," said 
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for 
the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "We had the fallout from the 
Michael Phelps incident, the Change.gov marijuana question to Obama 
and his chuckling response, we have the Mexico violence, we have the 
economic issues," he counted. "All of these things have helped 
galvanize a certain zeitgeist that is palpable and that almost 
everyone can appreciate."

"The politicians are still very slow on picking up on the desires of 
citizens no matter how high the polling numbers go, especially on 
decriminalization and medical marijuana," said St. Pierre. "The 
polling numbers are over 70% for those, and support for legalization 
nationwide is now at about 42%, depending on which data set you use. 
Everything seems to be breaking for reform in these past few weeks, 
and I expect those numbers to only go up."

"It feels like we're reaching the tipping point," said Amber 
Langston, eastern region outreach director for Students for Sensible 
Drug Policy. "I've been feeling that for a couple of months now. The 
Michael Phelps incident sent a clear message that you can be 
successful and still have used marijuana. He's still a hero to lots 
of people," she said.

"I think we're getting close now," said Langston. "We have moved the 
conversation to the next level, where people are actually taking this 
seriously and we're not just having another fear-based discussion."

"There is definitely momentum building around marijuana issues," said 
Denver-based Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER (Safer 
Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation), which has built a successful 
strategy around comparing alcohol and marijuana. "Yet we still find 
ourselves in a situation where change is not happening. Up until now, 
people have made arguments around criminal justice savings, other 
economic benefits, ending the black market -- those things have got 
us to where we are today, but they haven't been enough to get elected 
officials to act," he argued.

"The problem is that there are still far too many people who see 
marijuana as so harmful it shouldn't be legalized," Tvert continued. 
"That suggests we need to be doing more to address the relative 
safety of marijuana, especially compared to drugs like alcohol. The 
good arguments above will then carry more weight. Just as a concerned 
parent doesn't want to reap the tax benefits of legal heroin, it's 
the same with marijuana. The mantra is why provide another vice. What 
we're saying is that we're providing an alternative for the millions 
who would prefer to use marijuana instead of alcohol."

With the accumulation of arguments for legalization growing ever 
weightier, the edifice of marijuana prohibition seems increasingly 
shaky. "Marijuana prohibition has become like the Soviet Empire circa 
1987 or 1988," Mirken analogized. "It's an empty shell of a policy 
that continues only because it is perceived as being huge and 
formidable, but when the perception changes, the whole thing is going 
to collapse."

Still, translating the zeitgeist into real change remains a 
formidable task, said Mirken. "It is going to take hard work. All of 
us need to keep finding ways to keep these discussions going in the 
media, we need to work with open-minded legislators to get bills 
introduced where there can be hearings to air the facts and where we 
can refute the nonsense that comes from our opponents. Keeping the 
debate front and center is essential," he said.

Mirken is waiting for the other shoe to drop. "We have to prepared 
for an empire strikes back moment," he said. "I predict that within 
the next year, there will be a concerted effort to scare the 
daylights out of people about marijuana."

Activists need to keep hammering away at both the federal government 
and state and local governments, Mirken said. "We are talking to 
members of Congress and seeing what might be doable. Even if nothing 
passes immediately, introducing a bill can move the discussion 
forward, but realistically, things are more likely to happen at the 
state and local level," he said, citing the legalization bill in 
California and hinting that MPP would try legalization in Nevada again.

Part of the problem of the mismatch between popular fervor and actual 
progress on reform is partisan positioning, said St. Pierre. "Even 
politicians who may be personally supportive and can appreciate what 
they see going on around them as this goes mainstream do not want to 
hand conservative Republicans a triangulation issue. The Democrats 
are begging for a certain degree of political maturity from the 
reform movement," he said. "They're dealing with two wars, tough 
economic times, trying to do health care reform. They don't want to 
raise cannabis to a level where it becomes contentious for Obama."

The window of opportunity for presidential action is four years down 
the road, St. Pierre suggested. "If Obama doesn't do anything next 
year, they will then be in reelection mode and unlikely to act," he 
mused. "I think our real shot comes after he is reelected. Then we 
have two years before he becomes a lame duck."

But we don't have to wait for Obama, said St. Pierre. "We expect 
Barney Frank and Ron Paul to reintroduce decriminalization and 
medical marijuana bills," he said. "I don't think they will pass this 
year, but we might get hearings, although I don't think that's likely 
until the fall."

It's not just that politicians need to understand that supporting 
marijuana legalization will not hurt them -- they need to understand 
that standing its way will. "The politicians aren't feeling the pain 
of being opposed to remain," St. Pierre said. "We have to take out 
one of those last remaining drug war zealots."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom