DOMESTIC
required 6,000 signatures of registered
voters, according to The Daily Chronic.
The ballot initiative would mirror the
legislation in Colorado, according to The
Huffington Post, allowing adults over
twenty-one to possess up to an ounce
of marijuana and grow six of their own
plants, only three of which can be mature.
Other states also have marijuana
initiatives that could potentially be on
the ballots this summer or fall. While
much of the attention has been on states
that are looking to legalize marijuana
for recreational purposes, initiatives
to legalize medical marijuana or even
decriminalize the use of marijuana are
just as significant to the movement.
Rick Perry, the Republican Governor
of Texas, has discussed the possibility
of decriminalizing marijuana and said
to Jimmy Kimmel that, “you don’t want
to ruin a kid’s life for having a joint.”
Perry then agreed when Kimmel suggested decriminalizing marijuana in
Texas, an interesting position because
marijuana movements typically come
from the far left of the political spectrum. The GOP’s changing stance on
marijuana reflects a country that has become increasingly in favor of marijuana
legalization over the past few years. A
CNN/Opinion Research poll from this
January found that national support for
marijuana legalization is now at fiftyfive percent. In California, a proposition to legalize marijuana in 2010 failed
53.5% to 46.5%; however, in a recent
poll, fifty-six percent of California said
they would vote in favor of legalization
– up ten percent from the 2010 vote.
Certainly, not every state is going to
turn into another Colorado and sell the
drug out of official stores, but the stigma that has been attached to marijuana
is going away. Very progressive states
like Colorado and Washington have legalized marijuana and others still are
continuing to vote on marijuana-related
initiatives. Historically conservative,
anti-marijuana states have been discussing loosening the punishments for
possession of marijuana, while oth-
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VANDERBILT POLITICAL REVIEW
Photo Credit: Jeffrey Beall
ers have been making strides in medical marijuana allowances. Overall, a
legalization movement that started as
purely wishful thinking has seen true
success in a couple of states and may
soon see success in more. As it continues to gather momentum, the American
people will put more pressure on the
White House to make concrete statements on the subject and potentially
enact federal legislation supporting it.
In general, Obama’s statements on
marijuana have been vague and disappointing to many supporters. Kevin
Sabet, an assistant professor at the
University of Florida’s Drug Policy
Institute, said that the administration
has a “bad political problem” when it
comes to marijuana, and that they are
trying to avoid alienating any voting
blocs by giving committed responses or taking action. In spite of this,
pressure on the President is mounting. Eventually, the Obama administration and both political parties will
have to clear the smoke and stop giving hazy answers to questions regarding marijuana legalization and policies.