Today, many Americans will light up in celebration of International Marijuana Day, even though pot is still illegal under federal law. Yet even as public opinion on the drug is changing, pot supporters and smokers might still have years to wait before Congress changes federal legislation.
For the first time since polling on the issue began, a majority of Americans — 52 percent — support marijuana legalization. Unsurprisingly, 65 percent of Millennials are in favor of a change in federal law.
Jeffrey A. Miron, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and an expert on the economics of illegal drugs, sees a “tipping point” coming for national pot legalization. That point, however, won’t happen for at least another five to 10 years, he said.
“It’s true that a lot of people that have modified or changed their views on whether it should be legal, and it’s true that a lot of states have modified their policies in the direction of legalization in various ways, but the federal government still seems quite adamant that it doesn’t want to legalize marijuana,” he told Red Alert.
Congress has long shied away from both enforcement of current marijuana laws and passage of looser pot legislation, even as a medical marijuana dispensary opens right in its backyard.
Earlier this week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the government would “enforce federal law” on the issue of marijuana.
Yet, Holder’s remarks contradict comments from President Obama at the end of last year. The POTUS said the federal government would not pursue pot users in Colorado and Washington state — places where recreational marijuana use has been legalized. The U.S. attorney for Colorado, however, reminded residents of the Centennial State that the drug was still illegal under federal law.
“Regardless of any changes in state law, including the change that will go into effect on Dec. 10 in Colorado, growing, selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law,” U.S. Attorney John Walsh said in a statement at the time.
The federal government’s ‘all talk, but no action’ standpoint doesn’t surprise Miron, who says the Obama administration is in an “awkward” spot on a “messy issue.” The government could OK states’ rights to legalize the drug or they could come down with the full weight of the federal law, but neither one would win any political points, he said.
“They have no good choices,” Miron added. “Whatever they do, they’re going to get a lot of grief.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has called for the decriminalization of marijuana — meaning drug offenders wouldn’t be locked up for long jail sentences — even while not supporting full legalization of the drug. In recent polling, 60 percent of District of Columbia residents strongly supported punishing pot offenders with fines instead of jail time.
“There is nobody now that says that drug users should go to jail,” argued Mike Riggs, associate editor of Reason magazine, at a ‘What’s next for weed?’ event this past week.
“The debate has shifted,” he added later, listing a large number of states that have moved toward decriminalizing marijuana.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) is one of the few members of Congress to take a stance on the drug, stepping out in support of states’ rights to legalize pot and authoring the “Respect State Marijuana Laws Act.” The bill, introduced this week, would allow individuals acting in alignment with state marijuana laws to avoid federal prosecution.
Since Washington is still so adverse to changing the federal marijuana laws, Miron said national change will most likely continue on a state-by-state basis, eventually changing federal law.
But for now, marijuana smokers flocking to Washington state and Colorado on 4/20 will have to keep dreaming of a day when weed is legal under federal law.
