GeorgiaAvenger
05-26-2012, 08:55 AM
http://www.politico.com/arena/
Members of Congress weigh in.
My favorite comment was by Ethan Nadelman and Bill Piper:
Lots of people on and off the Hill are asking what will become of the fight to reform the federal government’s backward marijuana policies once Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Ron Paul leave Congress at the end of the year. While their exodus will certainly be a loss, the politics around marijuana have shifted so dramatically in recent years that there will be no shortage of members to fill their shoes.
Consider that just three or four years ago even Reps. Frank and Paul were reluctant to introduce legislation outright ending marijuana prohibition. Their focus was on protecting state medical marijuana laws and decriminalizing possession (two bills they cosponsored together). They were convinced to call for even greater reform by a political sea change.
California’s 2010 marijuana legalization initiative, Proposition 19, which came surprisingly close to winning, proved pivotal in transforming the national dialogue on marijuana prohibition. Several members of Congress from California publicly stated that they would vote for it. Meanwhile state legislators from Washington to Indiana to New Hampshire began openly talking about regulating marijuana instead of criminalizing it. And national polling shows a rapid increase in public support for legalizing marijuana – from 36 percent in favor in 2006 to 50 percent in 2011, according to Gallup’s latest poll.
Treating marijuana like alcohol - legalizing, taxing, and regulating it - now has majority support among moderate and Independent voters, Americans under the age of 50, and people who live in the West, Midwest or East. When Congressmen Frank and Paul introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act last June, many predicted it wouldn’t get more than a handful of cosponsors. It currently has 20. While Frank and Paul will be missed, other members of Congress seem eager to step up.
Rep. Jared Polis from Colorado is one likely candidate for stepping into the shoes of Congressmen Paul and Frank. He has been a strong advocate of medical marijuana, introducing legislation to protect those involved in its provision, and is articulate in making the case for ending marijuana prohibition. Rep. Steven Cohen from Memphis, Tennessee pulls no punches when grilling Justice Department officials on the issue. They stand out among the growing number of Democrats elected to Congress in recent years who are willing to step out on the issue. But it is also noteworthy that Rep. Charlie Rangel, who spent much of his career as a cheerleader for the war on drugs, also signed on to the Frank-Paul bill. Rep. John Conyers, who would be chair of the Judiciary Committee if Democrats retake the house, supports the bill and talks passionately about the racial injustices perpetrated by marijuana prohibition.
More leaders are on the way. New York Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, who has led efforts in the state legislature to reform marijuana enforcement policies, is a leading candidate to succeed Rep. Ed Towns. In California, it’s not entirely clear who will win California’s “top two” primary to replace Rep. Lynn Woolsey, but all the top candidates support taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol. In Texas, City Councilman Beto O’Rourke made a national name for himself by calling for an end to marijuana prohibition. He now stands a good shot of beating Rep. Silvestre Reyes, who has vigorously defended the drug war notwithstanding its evident costs and failures. We may know next week whether O’Rourke is in and Reyes is out.
Republicans so far lag far behind Democrats in supporting marijuana law reform notwithstanding their reputation for respecting individual and states’ rights as well as fiscal prudence. Many of course privately agree with the need for reform but feel compelled to stick with the party line. When Republican Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Rep Tom McClintock cosponsored a floor amendment a few weeks ago that would have prohibited the Justice Department from spending money to undermine state medical marijuana laws, 73 percent of Democrats voted in favor but only 12 percent of Republicans joined them. That said, the 28 Republicans who voted yes included a dozen tea party / liberty-minded Republicans elected in 2010. One long shot Congressional race that could really stir things up is a primary battle in Texas Primary between Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith and Sheriff Richard Mack. Chairman Smith is a drug war extremist who says his committee will never have a hearing on marijuana reform as long as he is chair. Sheriff Mack supports ending marijuana prohibition. We’ll know the outcome by the end of the month.
Clearly we have a long way to go on Capitol Hill, where support for ending marijuana prohibition lags far behind public opinion. Our greatest challenge may well lie in the Senate. Seventeen states have legalized marijuana for medical use, yet not a single senator has stepped up to protect those states from federal attack. The Senator most often suggested as someone ripe to take the issue on is Senator Rand Paul, who stood alone in blocking a bill that would criminalize various synthetic drugs without bothering to respect the scientific process. It’s not clear who on the Democratic side could stand with him on medical marijuana or other drug policy issues, but we fantasize that Franken and Paul could do in the Senate what Frank and Paul did in the House.
Members of Congress weigh in.
My favorite comment was by Ethan Nadelman and Bill Piper:
Lots of people on and off the Hill are asking what will become of the fight to reform the federal government’s backward marijuana policies once Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Ron Paul leave Congress at the end of the year. While their exodus will certainly be a loss, the politics around marijuana have shifted so dramatically in recent years that there will be no shortage of members to fill their shoes.
Consider that just three or four years ago even Reps. Frank and Paul were reluctant to introduce legislation outright ending marijuana prohibition. Their focus was on protecting state medical marijuana laws and decriminalizing possession (two bills they cosponsored together). They were convinced to call for even greater reform by a political sea change.
California’s 2010 marijuana legalization initiative, Proposition 19, which came surprisingly close to winning, proved pivotal in transforming the national dialogue on marijuana prohibition. Several members of Congress from California publicly stated that they would vote for it. Meanwhile state legislators from Washington to Indiana to New Hampshire began openly talking about regulating marijuana instead of criminalizing it. And national polling shows a rapid increase in public support for legalizing marijuana – from 36 percent in favor in 2006 to 50 percent in 2011, according to Gallup’s latest poll.
Treating marijuana like alcohol - legalizing, taxing, and regulating it - now has majority support among moderate and Independent voters, Americans under the age of 50, and people who live in the West, Midwest or East. When Congressmen Frank and Paul introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act last June, many predicted it wouldn’t get more than a handful of cosponsors. It currently has 20. While Frank and Paul will be missed, other members of Congress seem eager to step up.
Rep. Jared Polis from Colorado is one likely candidate for stepping into the shoes of Congressmen Paul and Frank. He has been a strong advocate of medical marijuana, introducing legislation to protect those involved in its provision, and is articulate in making the case for ending marijuana prohibition. Rep. Steven Cohen from Memphis, Tennessee pulls no punches when grilling Justice Department officials on the issue. They stand out among the growing number of Democrats elected to Congress in recent years who are willing to step out on the issue. But it is also noteworthy that Rep. Charlie Rangel, who spent much of his career as a cheerleader for the war on drugs, also signed on to the Frank-Paul bill. Rep. John Conyers, who would be chair of the Judiciary Committee if Democrats retake the house, supports the bill and talks passionately about the racial injustices perpetrated by marijuana prohibition.
More leaders are on the way. New York Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, who has led efforts in the state legislature to reform marijuana enforcement policies, is a leading candidate to succeed Rep. Ed Towns. In California, it’s not entirely clear who will win California’s “top two” primary to replace Rep. Lynn Woolsey, but all the top candidates support taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol. In Texas, City Councilman Beto O’Rourke made a national name for himself by calling for an end to marijuana prohibition. He now stands a good shot of beating Rep. Silvestre Reyes, who has vigorously defended the drug war notwithstanding its evident costs and failures. We may know next week whether O’Rourke is in and Reyes is out.
Republicans so far lag far behind Democrats in supporting marijuana law reform notwithstanding their reputation for respecting individual and states’ rights as well as fiscal prudence. Many of course privately agree with the need for reform but feel compelled to stick with the party line. When Republican Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Rep Tom McClintock cosponsored a floor amendment a few weeks ago that would have prohibited the Justice Department from spending money to undermine state medical marijuana laws, 73 percent of Democrats voted in favor but only 12 percent of Republicans joined them. That said, the 28 Republicans who voted yes included a dozen tea party / liberty-minded Republicans elected in 2010. One long shot Congressional race that could really stir things up is a primary battle in Texas Primary between Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith and Sheriff Richard Mack. Chairman Smith is a drug war extremist who says his committee will never have a hearing on marijuana reform as long as he is chair. Sheriff Mack supports ending marijuana prohibition. We’ll know the outcome by the end of the month.
Clearly we have a long way to go on Capitol Hill, where support for ending marijuana prohibition lags far behind public opinion. Our greatest challenge may well lie in the Senate. Seventeen states have legalized marijuana for medical use, yet not a single senator has stepped up to protect those states from federal attack. The Senator most often suggested as someone ripe to take the issue on is Senator Rand Paul, who stood alone in blocking a bill that would criminalize various synthetic drugs without bothering to respect the scientific process. It’s not clear who on the Democratic side could stand with him on medical marijuana or other drug policy issues, but we fantasize that Franken and Paul could do in the Senate what Frank and Paul did in the House.