Editor’s note: Breaking views are thoughts from individual members of the editorial board on today’s headlines.
The legalization of marijuana has become so mainstream it barely gets any coverage these days.
On Tuesday, Michigan became the 10th state to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, while Missouri and Utah legalized medical marijuana.
In a country where 659,700 arrests were made in 2017 for marijuana offenses (599,282 for possession) and 653,249 arrests were made in 2016, the tension between enforcement of marijuana laws amid growing support for legalization is untenable.
Marijuana prohibition has always been a farce. Bringing down the force of government on people for engaging in a victimless activity is an absurd abuse of the state and a misuse of law enforcement’s resources. At the same time, it makes a complete mockery of the justice system and brings a host of racially disparate outcomes which rightly make many skeptical of the fairness of the justice system.
Today, more than 60 percent of Americans now support marijuana legalization, double the level of support in 2000.
It’s time for Congress to hurry up and do what’s both popular and right: end federal marijuana prohibition.
Ideally, they’d do this by dropping marijuana completely from the Controlled Substances Act, thereby allowing states to make whatever decisions they want with respect to marijuana, and removing any ambiguity about whether states and localities can make such a decision without federal backlash.
President Trump has previously indicated support for legislation allowing states to make their own choices on this matter, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and Anthony Scaramucci have both suggested Trump will move to do so after the midterms.
Here’s to hoping Congress and the White House can get something right in support of freedom.
And here’s to hoping we are nearing the days where marijuana prohibition is talked about no more often than alcohol prohibition.
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