Welcome to the national conversation, Gil DrugWarRant / Pete Guither / 1,9,2012 Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske responds to the latest petitions regarding legalizing marijuana. Thank you for participating in We the People and speaking out on the legalization of marijuana. Coming out of the recent election, it is clear that we're in the midst of a serious national conversation about marijuana . We've been in a serious national conversation for some time, and your boss was laughing at us. Now, he's not laughing so much. Tom Angell, of Marijuana Majority writes: “I guess it makes a difference when marijuana legalization gets more votes than your boss does in an important swing state, as happened in Colorado this last election. From ‘legalization is not in my vocabulary and it's not in the president's,' as Gil Kerlikowske often used to say, to ‘it is clear that we're in the midst of a serious national conversation about marijuana' is a pretty stark shift. Of course, what really matters is to what extent the administration actually shifts enforcement priorities and budgets, but I sure do like hearing the US drug czar acknowledge the fact that marijuana legalization is a mainstream discussion that is happening whether he likes it or not.†It's clear that we have forced a shift in the tenor of the national conversation, and that's pretty sweet. … Note: Some have previously pointed out this page at Huffington Post, that shows Obama getting more votes than marijuana in Colorado in the final count, but the official results from the Colorado Secretary of State show that marijuana came out on top. …. Side note: Some reactions to the various legalization articles out over at The Reality Based Community. Mark Kleiman uses his usual “pox on both your houses†approach, convinced that his opinion is the one and only factual approach. He's right, of course, to ridicule Patrick Kennedy's ideas, but for the wrong reason. It's not that Kennedy's approach is lacking in facts, but rather that it's wrong. Simply stating more facts (or more uncertainties) doesn't necessarily make your argument correct. Keith Humphreys, on the other hand, gives a glowing review of the Kennedy nonsense. Keith is dumb enough to agree with Kennedy, but smart enough to realize that he'd be skewered in comments, so naturally, for that post, comments are closed. By the way, the Project SAM website is now live: LearnAboutSAM.com Meanwhile,we the people will continue changing the law one state at a time,,screw waiting on congress to act,,that could be decades,,if ever.
I don't want talks. I want action because depending on how long the talks last it could be the difference between life or death in someones life. Check out my new sig