Medicinal marijuana

By Libby

Jeralyn picks up on Obama's firm stance against legalizing marijuana in general. That was no surprise, I think it's always been clear he's not going to be the drug policy reform president. However, he has made a firm statement on honoring state's rights in determining for themselves whether to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes and he should certainly be held to that position, particularly since 13 states have now legalized the use with Michigan being the newest one to join in protecting the right of sick people to choose their own medicine.

Jeralyn, quoting Paul Armentano at NORML says that the open question forum at change.gov is accepting new questions again and suggests that a question on that issue be voted to the top. I'm not sure that tool really is open again yet, I couldn't find it anyway, but you can always use the contact form to get a jump start on bringing the issue forward. As they both note, drug policy change will come from the bottom up and nothing is going to happen unless the electorate demands it.

On a related note, I've been mulling over my earlier post on drug legalization and have been thinking I wasn't entirely fair to Mark Kleiman. While I believe that those who make money from prohibition have little incentive to win the war on drugs, I failed to note that those who make a living on working for reform would have some disincentive as well, albeit not nearly as great.

For the record, I've never made a cent on the work I've done in the field. In fact, it's cost me money and while I'm a former consumer, it's been decades since I've used drugs myself. My interest in reform rests in seeing common sense policy enacted that would mitigate the damage I've seen done by our current incarceration/interdiction based strategies and an honest concern in solving the problems of addiction.

Comments

[Joe.J]

CNBC will be premiering Marijuana Inc. Inside America’s Pot Industry on Thursday, January 22nd at 9p ET / 10p PT. The marijuana trade has long been one of the country’s leading black market industries. What factors continue to help this taboo business thrive and how is the government profiting as a result? Join Trish Regan as she explores this growing industry and how it has expanded into a major business with its own sophisticated network of growers, workers, and quasi-legal retail outlets, in the form of medical marijuana dispensaries.

Web extras are coming soon to http://originals.cnbc.com.

Sneak preview on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/51204/cnbc-originals-marijuana-inc-inside-americas-pot-industry#s-p1-so-i1

Thanks
Kevin