Pubdate: Mon, 19 Nov 2012
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2012 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/lettertoed.cgi
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Note: This editorial was published Wednesday in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n587/a05.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?233 (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition)

SANER LAWS END 'REEFER MADNESS'

Sober Democracy Prevails in 2 More States, Philadelphia Inquirer Says

After his state became one of two where marijuana legalization was 
approved by voters Nov. 6, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper warned 
that "federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't 
break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly."

Hickenlooper's allusion to marijuana induced munchies was amusing, 
but it had a sly, sinister subtext - namely, that the measure was 
brought about by nothing more than a ragtag army of stoners who just 
want the government to let them get high. Would Hickenlooper, a 
Democrat who opposed the initiative, have us believe that more than 
half of Colorado's electorate consists of inveterate potheads in the 
mold of Cheech and Chong?

The Rocky Mountain State isn't even a liberal outlier; it was one of 
this year's tightest presidential toss-ups, almost evenly divided 
between Republicans and Democrats. Yet it joins Washington as one of 
the first two states to vote for initiatives legalizing marijuana 
without specifying medicinal purposes.

Seventeen other states have passed measures legalizing medical 
marijuana, bringing the total to more than a third of the Union.

Even voters who approved outright legalization were not contemplating 
a free-for-all. The measures that passed on Election Day feature age 
and amount limits.

What we have here is not "reefer madness;" it's sane and sober 
democracy. That our interminable drug war is a costly, destructive 
failure is clear to most Americans, not to mention Mexicans, who are 
not directly employed in its continued prosecution. It's obvious even 
to many of those who are, as evidenced by the existence of the 
organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom