It’s understandable why Obama took the easy way out regarding a drug that has been taboo and illegal for as long as anybody remembers. Even with the number of legalization supporters at a record high, a large chunk of the voting populace is not educated enough on the subject to even consider legalization an option.
On the other hand, Obama was supposed to be the candidate of change, and the candidate who considered all possible options with an open, non-judgmental mind. Not only did the president not consider legalization, but he also made fun of the fact that the marijuana prohibition question was the highest voted question online, remarking jokingly, “I don’t know what this says about the online audience.”
When tens of thousands of online voters vote for the President of the United States to discuss the legalization and taxation of marijuana, is it too much to ask for him to take them seriously? Obama didn’t even allow the full question to be read, instead paraphrasing it inaccurately as “whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation.” His simple answer was “No, I don’t think this is a good strategy to grow our economy.” There was no explanation, no demonstration of any knowledge on the subject, just demagoguery. This came as a shock to me, as I had grown used to Obama’s calm, reasonable and measured arguments on issues. I had also seen a YouTube clip from 2004 in which Obama called the War on Drugs a failure and expressed support for decriminalization.
Even though Obama’s reaction to the marijuana legalization question disappointed me, if Obama had refused to discuss it at any other time, I wouldn’t have minded. With the prolonged recession and the highest level of unemployment in years, it would normally make sense that this issue wouldn’t be high on the White House’s priority list. However, currently, the issue of marijuana legalization and decriminalization is now more significant than ever.
The Mexican Drug War between hostile, powerful drug cartels has resulted in near chaos in our neighboring ally’s cities and towns, and one of the root causes is the illegal status of marijuana in the United States. In some cases, the violence has been just minutes from the U.S.-Mexico border, and the products being fought over are drugs and guns that are meant to be shipped into the United States. The Mexican government has had to step in to control the violence that has resulted in over 7,000 deaths, including over 200 American lives lost. Between 60 and 80 percent, depending on whom you ask, of the revenue the cartels are fighting over comes from marijuana, a cash crop that is smuggled over the border because of the high demand for it that results from its illegal status in the U.S. The war has been going on since 2007, but it has escalated recently, and the violence is moving closer and closer to us, with Mexican forces invading border towns to control clashes between rival cartels.
Because marijuana is illegal, Americans who smoke pot are forced to buy from low-level criminals, who often buy their stuff from higher level criminals and this chain eventually leads to the cartels who are involved in all sorts of criminal activity, including human trafficking, gun smuggling, kidnapping, and murder. In essence, America is fueling both sides of the drug war. The cartels’ money comes from consumers inside the U.S., and the Mexican forces battling these cartels are funded in part by our taxes and our government’s “War on Drugs.” The U.S. government, in the Merida Initiative, appropriated 1.4 billion dollars to fight the cartels and enforce of drug-trafficking laws. For a country that is knee-deep in national debt, that is no small sum to give to our neighbors to fight a problem we could control.
Some naysayers would say, “Well, this whole thing is the pot-smokers faults for funding these cartels. They should stop smoking. The law is justified by their stupidity.” This would be a valid point if it were realistic for millions of Americans to stop smoking pot or if it were easier to enforce the illegality of marijuana possession. Neither is remotely possible, and there is a better option — legalization. Legalization would cut out the need for illegal suppliers, and legalization and taxation would generate revenue and jobs for a government deeply in debt and citizens deeply in need of jobs.
During Prohibition, crime mobs like these cartels were formed to produce and distribute moonshine. When the Temperance movement saw that banning alcohol instead produced more alcohol abuse, prohibition was repealed despite the taboo on alcohol. Nowadays, illegal production of alcohol is barely a problem, with most Americans buying their alcohol legally, after it has been taxed. The same is true with tobacco, which some, including myself, believe is more harmful than marijuana. The prohibition on marijuana creates more crime than it hopes to prevent, and the government can benefit from the profitability of the drug. If politicians truly care more about the good of society than politics, they will at least consider the possible revenue and jobs created from the legalization of marijuana.
Fortunately, many are active on the issue, and in Oregon, Massachusetts and California, bills are being pushed forth to legalize and tax marijuana. These states have already taken the first step in decriminalizing marijuana, which saves the government inordinate amounts of money that would normally be wasted on jailing thousands of minor drug offenders. More and more states are decriminalizing the taboo drug, realizing that it isn’t any more harmful than alcohol, and that law enforcement costs can be cut as a result.
The U.S. incarcerates more of its people than any other developed country in the world, and a large reason for this is the war on drugs. Just the decriminalization of marijuana would save us many jail cells and much government funding that would normally go towards feeding and clothing inmates. Over 872,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession in 2007 alone, and that number will increase each year if politicians such as President Barack Obama don’t start to look at the numbers and arguments that legalization and taxation supporters have been citing for years.
With all the stimulus spending that Obama has planned, the billions of dollars that could be saved by taxing marijuana could help alleviate the stress on our huge national debt. I sincerely hope the President looks at the benefits of legalization or at least decriminalization, especially since he has smoked marijuana and should know that it is no more harmful than alcohol. Marijuana is not chemically addictive, and it has been proven to have medical benefits in some cases. If the government makes money off of cigarette smokers, why shouldn’t it make money off of marijuana users? The moral arguments against the legalization of marijuana don’t hold up anymore, and the economic and criminal arguments make even less sense. If legalization is going to happen under any president, it’s going to be under Obama, and the Mexican Drug War has given him an opening to show that he really is the politician of change.