Once again, alarob comes forward with a thought-provoking comment I’d like to address in detail, in a new post. In response to my frustration over Obama’s curt refusal to engage with marijuana legalization advocates, alarob had this to say:
There’s a false dichotomy implied here: Either (A) legalize marijuana and realize nothing but benefits, or (B) pursue a bone-headed, wasteful, anti-freedom enforcement policy. The issue’s a lot more complicated than that. Legalization would not be a bed of roses, and enforcement of existing laws doesn’t have to be oppressive.
Advocates of legal pot overlook the unintended consequences of turning it into a commercialized commodity, even if tobacco-style restrictions were placed on advertising it. I’m amazed by those who actually believe usage would go down once professional manufacturers, marketers, and distributors got into the act. True, government would collect revenue from the sales, but as in the past with tobacco, that would create an incentive for government to tolerate growing consumption, hence growing addiction and health problems. “But it’s no worse than alcohol.” Fine, let’s assume that’s true. Would it be good public policy to increase the rate of alcohol consumption? The most absurd thing I hear people say about marijuana is that it’s not “really” addictive, or that it’s “only psychological.”
But even if I’m wrong on every point, and if legalization could be shown to be the greatest public good since hot and cold running water, it would still be a political impossibility. This is one issue on which the liberal/libertarian blogosphere is way out of touch with the rest of the electorate. If Obama were to legalize marijuana, he’d pay a much heavier political penalty than Clinton did with his early effort to champion gay soldiers — which ended up as a retreat to the justly ridiculed “don’t ask, don’t tell” compromise.
So the most significant fact is that legalizing marijuana is an unattainable goal in 2008, and any politician who tried it would be on a fool’s errand. Talk about a waste of resources: The sooner this issue leaves the national stage, the better. The transition team’s terse reply to S. Man says, in effect, “President-elect Obama is not a fool.”
While this subject is not as high of a priority for me as it is for Loretta Nall, I’d like to make several points in reply. First, there is a charge of a false dichotomy: legalizing marijuana is pure goodness, while continued enforcement of current laws is pure evil. I don’t subscribe to either caricatured position. My post was pretty short and I wasn’t trying to delve into the complexities of marijuana pros and cons; I agree the issue is complex. There are some benefits to the drug being illegal, and there would be some drawbacks to it being legal. Obviously I hold the position that the benefits of legalization outweigh the drawbacks, and I would like to see U.S. federal drug policy changed. But I don’t base that on oversimplifications, though the medium of blogging lends itself to shallow treatments of complex issues.
Alarob then touches on some matters of health risks and usage rates. With regard to health risks, I find it difficult to sort through the various reports, because most people cite reports with an agenda. Wikipedia seems to have a pretty good, well-cited article. Though I’m skeptical of all studies on the topic, it seems safe to say that at worst, marijuana is no more addictive than alcohol or tobacco, both of which are legal. And the most notable health risks associated with tobacco smoking — emphysema, cancer, and heart disease — are probably no worse (and possibly better) with marijuana smoking. Of course all of this is complicated by the fact that most of the information we have on the health risks associated with marijuana involves the use of unregulated, illegally-purchased products. Some ill health effects noted in existing studies may be related to contaminants in the unregulated products or other factors in illegal drug use, factors that could change if the drug was legalized and regulated.
Alarob’s next point is that those of us arguing in favor of legalizing marijuana are “way out of touch with the rest of the electorate.” I think that considerably overstates the support for federal laws making pot illegal. The most recent information I could find with an admittedly quick and dirty Google search is this bit on a 2006 Zogby poll claiming that “Nationwide, 46% supported making marijuana policy a state option, while 53% did on the East Coast and 55% on the West Coast.” The poll also pegs Democratic support of repealing federal laws on the substance at 59%. And the Dems have overwhelming control of both the legislative and executive branches of government now.
And the poll numbers of course don’t provide any insight to how educated people’s opinions are on this subject. Various factions in this country have engaged in a ridiculous amount of fearmongering about marijuana, and it seems blindlingly obvious that many citizens’ opinions on this subject would be skewed by misconceptions. If I thought marijuana was more dangerous than alcohol and tobacco and posed all sorts of insidious threats, I’d probably oppose its legalization, too. I’m sure that sort of thinking is common, but it’s wrong. A coordinated campaign of education on the topic could probably easily sway public opinion enough to make legalization politically feasible.
Alarob begins his final paragraph by stating, “So the most significant fact is that legalizing marijuana is an unattainable goal in 2008.” Which I agree with. But it’s not an unattainable goal for the duration of the likely eight years of an Obama presidency. If he took the problems of current federal drug laws and benefits of marijuana legalization seriously and decided to make it a long term goal, he could start using language right now that prepares the country for an eventual push towards a more sane drug policy by 2016. Instead of flatly stating that “President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana,” they could have said something along the lines of “the dangers of marijuana use and the potential benefits of legalization merit further study, and President-elect Obama is not prepared to support legalization at this time” or some such equivocating position. Anything to leave the door open for a closer look, rather than adhering to the myth-based dogma that has dominated national politics on this subject for decades.
