Marijuana legalization-
Marijuana legalization-
“Welcome to California,” said the dispensary owner as he beckoned towards seemingly endless rows of green filled jars. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The year was 2008, and my best friend from high school had arranged for me to get a real look into her “life in Los Angeles.”
As a Virginia native, this all seemed highly suspect, but my friend and her USC pals assured me that this was de rigeur in California Since then, the issue of “legal marijuana,” whether used “medicinally” or otherwise, has been raised over and over again by the media. Whichever way my research took me, blurred lines popped up. What’s the deal with past raids on state run dispensaries? What does it all mean for state’s rights? Why is everyone in Colorado so damn happy all the time?
I digress.
Whether you choose to puff or pass, you’d have to make a concerted effort to NOT notice that the conversation surrounding marijuana has become mainstream in recent years. This past week, the federal government finally made a stand when Attorney General Eric Holder told the states of Colorado and Washington that they’re free to create and implement initiatives that allow their residents to vote on marijuana laws.
Both of these states passed pro-marijuana initiatives at the polls this past November. Since then, there’s been some grey area as to what this actually meant by way of legality. Holder’s statement has bold implications. States are now free to proceed with their constituents’ desires regarding marijuana legalization. More importantly, states now have full reign over the establishment of taxation and regulation over the previously confused “industry.” Public opinion in favor of legalization has grown over the years, and the industry has thrived despite some raids. (Luckily for tokers, the president has “bigger fish to fry,” like going to war with foreign countries and supposedly overhauling the health care system.)
Many other states have taken steps to decriminalize and/or legalize the drug. In the very least, we should look forward to seeing how Holder’s statement will affect other states that have become hot spots in the realm of legalization.
Despite the veil of resolve, many questions remain unanswered, and we aren’t on the brink of any free-for-all hippie revolution.
Deputy Attorney James Cole included several directives for prosecutors to keep an eye on. In all fairness, it seems ok to me that this includes rules such as the prevention of “revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels.” After all, one would hope that making this a legal trade will lead to decreases in drug violence and black market activity. In my opinion, it should be interesting to see the effects of this on our tax system.
What does this news mean for the state of Virginia? Unbeknownst to most, the possession of marijuana is legal for Virginians suffering from cancer and glaucoma, so long as they have a valid prescription. This has been the case since 1979. You may wonder then why you’ve never seen a dispensary or heard of anyone picking up marijuana from the CVS on Cary street. while it’s legal for cancer and glaucoma patients to possess it, there are no laws regarding the actual distribution of the drug. In other words, where did these 70s lawmakers expect cancer and glaucoma patients to fill their heady prescriptions? Were they high when they thought of this?
Next week we’ll offer some specific insights into the future of marijuana legalization in our own state. Until then, I leave you to muse over Libertarian candidate for governor Robert Sarvis’ statement, and how it lines up with the thinking on the national level. “I propose legalizing marijuana in Virginia, decriminalizing harder drugs, and adopting a rational, evidence-based regulatory policy.
