Historic victory for marijuana advocates
Historic victory for marijuana advocates
James Taylor, News Writer for the Fourth Estate is the award-winning student newspaper from UW-Green Bay.
November 27, 2012
Filed under News, Top Stories
The war on drugs went up in smoke as the voters of Colorado and Washington became the first to legalize recreational use of marijuana.
State and local law enforcement throughout both states now recognize the legal right for adults, 21 and older, to cultivate and possess up to one ounce of marijuana. However, prohibition and prosecution of those who cultivate, distribute or own marijuana is still maintained by federal authorities.
Conflicting laws at different levels of government leave producers and users of recreational marijuana in uncertainty. Despite the ballot measures being passed by a majority of each state’s voters, federal law enforcement officials still have legal right to prosecute violators of federal law.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Director Niell Franklin urged U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to recognize the legitimacy of each state’s new laws.
“As fellow law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, we respectfully call upon you to respect and abide by the democratically enacted laws to regulate marijuana in Colorado and Washington,” Franklin said in an open letter. “To disregard the fact is to undermine the legitimacy of the ideas for which our forefathers fought and died.”
Ballot measures passed by voters in Colorado and Washington reflect a growing trend in public opinion. Viewpoints regarding marijuana have shifted toward legalization and regulation. According to a recent Gallup Poll, support for legalizing marijuana has risen to 50 percent — the highest ever recorded.
Proponents of marijuana legalization cite a lucrative tax revenue stream, reduced prison populations and freedom of choice as primary reasons for their support — not to mention the popular comparative view between the effects of marijuana and alcohol.
This is the reason why one UW-Green Bay student wouldn’t mind if legalization and regulation came to Wisconsin.
“I don’t smoke but people who do certainly don’t bother me,” said Christine Becker, senior Spanish major. “The short-term effects of smoking marijuana are not as intoxicating as using alcohol, so I don’t see a problem in legalizing marijuana.”
Opponents of new laws in Colorado and Washington have been vocal in their displeasure, asking Attorney General Holder and President Obama to disregard recent ballot initiatives and continue the decades-long prohibition of cannabis.
Raymond Yans, director of the U.N. International Narcotics Control Board, is concerned the new laws will do more harm than good.
“It sends a wrong message to the rest of the nation and it sends a wrong message abroad,” Yans said in a Nov. 20 statement recorded by the Associated Press.
Ballot measures such as those in Washington and Colorado will not as easily find their way to a ballot in Wisconsin. Each state has different systems to deal with citizen-generated measures.
Jay Selthofner, treasurer and co-founder of the Northern Wisconsin chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, feels that despite the difficulty of placing a public referendum on a Wisconsin ballot, it remains a possibility.
“The big difference between us and them is their states allow ballot measures driven by citizen initiatives,” Selthofner said. “Unfortunately in Wisconsin, we have what is known as a ballot referendum, and it doesn’t require legislators to act.”
In November 2010, Dane County and River Falls, Wis., placed referendums on ballots to ask legislators to pass a law allowing medical marijuana use by citizens with debilitating medical conditions. In both instances, the referendums passed.
And as recently as July 2011, La Crosse, Wis., passed an ordinance decriminalizing first-time offenders of marijuana possession laws if they posses seven grams or less of cannabis, said Selthofner.
Opinions throughout the state are changing and the legislators are taking note. One UWGB student feels it’s high time for change.
“I don’t like the contradiction of banning one drug and not another, like alcohol and marijuana,” said Elizabeth Glasheen, sophomore business administration major. “Using marijuana to affect your mood is the same as drinking alcohol.”
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