Pubdate: Sun, 03 Mar 2013
Source: Times-News, The (Twin Falls, ID)
Copyright: 2013 Lee Publications, Inc.
Contact: http://magicvalley.com/app/contact/
Website: http://www.magicvalley.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/595
Author: Paul Armentano
Note: Paul Armentano is the Deputy Director for NORML, the National 
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and is the co-author 
of the book, "Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?"

MOST AMERICANS FAVOR MARIJUANA REFORMS

America is at a tipping point regarding the public's desire for 
common-sense alternatives to marijuana prohibition. Never in modern 
history has there existed greater public support for ending the 
nation's nearly century-long experiment with pot prohibition and 
replacing it with a system of legalization and regulation. The 
historic votes on Election Day in Colorado and Washington - where, 
for the first time ever, a majority of voters decided at the ballot 
box to abolish cannabis prohibition - underscore this new political reality.

But you wouldn't know this fact by observing the recent political 
debate in Boise, where Senate lawmakers are considering legislation 
resolving to oppose any liberalization of the Idaho's anti-marijuana 
laws - which classify simple cannabis possession as a criminal 
misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a thousand dollar 
fine, and a criminal record.

Their actions are out of step with both public and political opinion.

Since January, lawmakers in seven states  Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, 
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont  have introduced legislation 
seeking to regulate the adult consumption of cannabis.

In Congress, federal legislation  House Bill 499: The Ending 
Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013  also awaits action.

Similar to how Congress ended alcohol prohibition, this measure seeks 
to de-federalize marijuana policy and create a framework for the 
retail cannabis production and sale in states that allow it.

Separate legislation is pending in 11 states to decriminalize 
marijuana possession offenses, a policy change that reduce penalties 
to a non-criminal infraction. (Fourteen states have already 
implemented such changes.) Another dozen states are also debating 
whether to authorize the consumption of cannabis for therapeutic 
purposes. (Eighteen states and Washington, DC have approved medical 
marijuana laws.) It's no wonder.

According to a December 20012 CBS News poll, 83 percent of Americans 
nationwide say that the law should allow for the physician-authorized 
use of cannabis for qualified patients.

But Americans' support for cannabis law reform is not just limited to 
allowing for the medicinal use of marijuana.

A December 2012 Public Policy Polling telephone survey of US voters 
found that 58 percent of the public believes that marijuana "should 
be legal." Only 34 percent of respondents opposed the notion of 
legalizing cannabis.

A post-election survey by the polling firm Angus Reid found that 54 
percent of US citizens favor legalizing cannabis, and two out of 
three predict that marijuana would be legal nationwide within 10 years.

Even larger percentages of Americans believe that the federal 
government ought to get out of the marijuana law enforcement business 
altogether. According to a December 2012 nationwide Gallup poll, 64 
percent of citizens do not believe that the federal government 
"should take steps to enforce federal anti-marijuana laws in those 
states." A January poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research 
Associates International agreed.

It found that over 70 percent of Americans believe that Washington, 
DC should butt out of the affairs of states that have legalized the plant.

In short, the days of 'Reefer Madness' are coming to an end. The 
question is: When will Idaho lawmakers get the message?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom