Like alcohol prohibition before it, the criminalization of pot is a failed federal policy that delegates the burden of enforcement to the state and local police. How did America’s ‘Nobel Experiment’ with alcohol prohibition come to an end?
Voters in Colorado and Washington made history on Election Day. For the first time ever, a majority of voters decided at the ballot box to abolish cannabis prohibition.
In Colorado, 55 percent of voters – four percent more than favored President Barack Obama – decided in favor of Amendment 64, a constitutional amendment that allows for the legal possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and/or the cultivation of up to six cannabis plants in private by those persons age 21 and over. In Washington, 55 percent of voters similarly decided in favor of Initiative 502, which removes criminal penalties regarding the adult possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for personal use (as well as the possession of up to 16 ounces of marijuana-infused product in solid form, and 72 ounces of marijuana-infused product in liquid form.) Washington’s new law takes effect on December 6. Colorado’s measure becomes law in early January. (Additional provisions seeking to enact state-licensed regulations governing the potential sale and taxation of cannabis do not begin taking effect until early 2014.)
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