A new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center has revealed that, for the first time in over forty years, a clear majority of people are now in favor of the legalization of marijuana. With 52 percent of people nationwide in favor of legalization and only 42 percent opposed, support for the policy has increased by 11 points since 2010. In comparison, only 12 percent of people supported legalization in 1969, with 84 percent opposed.
The survey also found that 72 percent of Americans believe that the cost of enforcing marijuana laws by the federal government is not worth it. Furthermore, 60 percent of those surveyed said that the federal government should not enforce marijuana laws in states that allow legal use. These results suggest that the tide is turning in favor of marijuana legalization.
Politicians Need to Catch Up with Voters
A recent survey has revealed a significant shift in public opinion on the legalization of marijuana. 65% of Millenials, 54% of Generation X and 50% of Baby Boomers are in favor of legalization. This is a stark contrast to the widely accepted opinion in political circles just a few years ago, which was to act ‘tough’ on drugs and criminalize marijuana. Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, believes that politicians will soon be running towards the movement, just as they did with marriage equality. This shift in opinion is especially important for the black community, where young people are disproportionately incarcerated for possession of small quantities of the drug.
The War on Drugs Appears to Be Lost
The war on drugs has been widely regarded as a failure, with the United States incarcerating more people than any other country in the world at 2.5 million prisoners. Of those incarcerated, more than 60% are racial and ethnic minorities, with drug offenses accounting for half of federal prisoners and one-fifth of state prisoners. Marijuana-related violations make up 12% of drug offenders.
In response to this, prominent figures in the black community have spoken out against the drug war. Actor Morgan Freeman stated that the law is “just making criminals out of people who aren’t engaged in criminal activity” and proposed the idea of legalizing and taxing marijuana. Ben Jealous of the NAACP called for “evidenced-based practices that address the root causes of drug use and abuse in America”. Newark mayor Cory Booker has also vowed to fight for change, suggesting civil disobedience and marches at the state capitol.
States Start the Ball Rolling on Decriminalization
In November, Colorado and Washington made history by becoming the first states in the US to legalize recreational marijuana. This move has sparked a wave of change across the nation, with states such as Oregon, California, Nevada, Rhode Island, Maine, Alaska and Vermont likely to follow suit.
In January, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis. Reverend Al Sharpton of the National Action Network and MSNBC praised the move, saying it was “a step in the right direction”.
Stop-and-frisk policies, which were recently struck down by a federal judge, have been a major contributor to marijuana arrests. Since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office 11 years ago, 440,000 people have been arrested for possession of the drug, making it the most heavily charged offense. Reverend Sharpton argued that stop-and-frisk does not reduce crime, but rather increases racial profiling of young black and Hispanic people.
Pot Putting Black Men Behind Bars
In 2011, over 50,000 arrests were made in New York City for small amounts of marijuana. Half of those arrested were under the age of 25, less than 10% had a criminal record, and 82 percent were black or Latino. This has led experts to conclude that the practice of stopping black and Latino young men is more to do with racial profiling than fighting crime.
The Center for Constitutional Rights filed the case of Floyd vs. City of New York which alleges that the New York City Police Department has been using discriminatory stop-and-frisk tactics against young men of color. In the Floyd case, Dr. Jeffrey Fagan – professor of law and public health at Columbia University and a Yale research scholar – found that race was the primary factor in many police stops, rather than reasonable suspicion of a crime or possession of a weapon or drug contraband. In nearly half of documented stops, police justified their actions based on the vague term “furtive stops”, while over half of the stops were made in “high crime areas” even when crime in the given neighborhood was lower than average.
Dr. Fagan’s research concluded that the NYPD’s stop and frisk tactics produce results that are worse than random chance. This suggests that the NYPD is continuing to use discriminatory tactics, rather than targeting individuals based on reasonable suspicion.
What Will Obama Do?
As debate continues over the decriminalization of marijuana, former President Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have both voiced support for such a policy. President Obama, however, has not yet acted on the issue despite his pre-election promises to reform the nation’s drug policy. In December 2012, the president told Barbara Walters that he did not support widespread legalization, but instead sought a middle ground. This statement, however, does not mark a shift in policy as the federal government rarely goes after individual users.
Marijuana legalization advocates argue that President Obama has the power to change the law through the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, and that he is merely attempting to pass the buck to Congress. Many fear that if the president does not act, individual marijuana users will be forced to buy from the black market, where profits go to criminal organizations.
It remains to be seen whether President Obama will evolve on the issue of drug policy, as he did with gay marriage. With a second term and no reelection worries, the president has an opportunity to make a lasting change to the nation’s drug policy.
