Will 2012 be the year?
Drug policy reform is moving along in the world and 2012 might very well be the year when marijuana will become legal in some part of the world, more precisely, somewhere in the Americas.
Uruguayan President Jose Mujica is plugging along with his marijuana legalization initiative, crisscrossing his country and the airwaves with his message, calling for a broad dialog on the issue. “We must stop looking the other way: The major problem is not marijuana, it is drug trafficking.” The project is being debated in the parliament, but no date has been set for a vote. http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2012/08/26/jose-mujica-el-problema-grave-es-el-narcotrafico-no-la-marihuana/. President Mujica received the support of various regional ex-presidents, with Cesar Gaviria of Colombia being his most vocal supporter, but was derided by ex-president Jorge Battle(of Uruguay), who on February 11, 2001, became the first head of state to call for drug legalization while still in office. Go figure. Any similarity with the Romneycare/Obamacare controversy is purely accidental of course. http://www.elobservador.com.uy/noticia/230808/batlle-proyecto-de-legalizacion-de-la-marihuana-es-para-el-libro-guiness-/
Ex-presidents Rodrigo Borja of Ecuador, and Ricardo Lagos of Chile have joined the club of anti-prohibitionist ex-heads of states. Ricardo Lagos Weber, son of the ex-president, even presented a proposal for the legalization of auto-cultivation and use of marijuana for medical purpose to the Chilean parliament, a proposal that was squarely rejected by president Sebastián Piñera http://america.infobae.com/notas/56195-Pinera-La-droga-es-muerte-dolor-sufrimiento
In the US, all three marijuana legalization initiatives on state ballots are gathering support left and right (mostly left though), including state legislators, the local democratic party and the NAACP.
Polls give a widening edge to the Colorado initiative with support growing to 47-38, and strong backing by independents. http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/08/co-voters-favor-assault-weapons-ban-legal-pot-civil-unions.html#mor Washington fares even better with 50-37 support. The more controversial Oregon initiative is not doing too good, with negative support at 43-46. http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19599-mari_wanna.html . While Washington and Colorado are sitting on comfortable piles of cash, Oregon is broke and could use some help. You can pitch in at Oregon campaign donations www.octa2012.com.
Put your money where your mouth is, support the marijuana legalization initiatives in all three states, Colorado http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/, Oregon www.octa2012.com and Washington http://www.newapproachwa.org. You can also spread the theme song for Colorado prop 64 http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/news/listen-yes-64-theme-song.
Each of these initiatives has its strengths and weaknesses, and none of them is perfect, but they certainly are a big step in the right direction and deserve your support.
