Americans are ready to say goodbye to marijuana prohibition.
According to a new Gallup poll, 70 percent of Americans think that marijuana should be legal, including 55 percent of Republicans. Thirty-eight states, three territories, and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use. And Ohio, a traditionally conservative state, just voted to legalize recreational marijuana, making it the 24th state to do so since 2012.
It’s about time. Other lawmakers at the state and federal levels must take advantage of this changing landscape to push for further marijuana reforms to keep communities safe and families together.
For decades, we have relied on a heavy-handed, top-down, criminal justice-based approach to drug use that has robbed countless individuals of their ability to contribute to their communities and families.
The so-called “war on drugs” has cost American taxpayers more than $1 trillion while doing little to curb drug addiction or overdose deaths, which hit a record high in 2021. It’s clear the criminal justice system is not fit to handle these problems — it only exacerbates them by criminalizing what shouldn’t be a crime and punishing instead of treating.
Marijuana offers a clear example. Of the 106,699 overdose deaths in 2021, marijuana accounted for none. It never does. Yet, under federal law it is treated the same as a much more dangerous substance like heroin. Taxpayers shell out an estimated 7.6 billionOriginal Author Link click here to read complete story..
