Washington State and Colorado Join the Fray: Cannabis Legalized

UPDATE: "Pot in the Air: Marijuana Legalized in Oregon, Alaska and DC"

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The big news from 6 November 2012 was not that the lesser of two evils won the US presidential elections, but that “Washington and Colorado voters legalized recreational use of marijuana.”

“’It’s very monumental,’ said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a Washington-based group that advocates legalization. ‘No state has ever done this. Technically, marijuana isn’t even legal in Amsterdam.’”

Under the measures, “personal possession of up to an ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana would be legal for anyone at least 21 years of age. They also will permit cannabis to be legally sold and taxed at state-licensed stores in a system modeled after a regime many states have in place for alcohol sales.”

In addition, the cultivation of up to six plants for personal use will be legal in Colorado while still remaining illegal in Washington State.

How will this play out with Obama’s war on cannabis, especially considering his record on medical marijuana?

“The Obama administration has quietly unleashed a multi¬agency crackdown on medical cannabis that goes far beyond anything undertaken by George W. Bush. The feds are busting growers who operate in full compliance with state laws, vowing to seize the property of anyone who dares to even rent to legal pot dispensaries, and threatening to imprison state employees responsible for regulating medical marijuana…

“‘There's no question that Obama's the worst president on medical marijuana,’ says Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. ‘He's gone from first to worst.’”

After Historic Votes Legalizing Marijuana, Colorado & Washington Prepare for Federal Gov’t Showdown

So why didn’t the residents of Washington and Colorado heed the warning from the former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration that “once these states actually try to implement these laws, we will see an effort by the feds to shut it down”? The odds are that they realized that the war on drugs is complete madness. It’s a war that has gone through multiple mutations and over the last few decades grown into the monstrosity that it is today. A one sided war declared by nations on their citizens, a war sustained entirely due to ignorance, fear, and greed.

Everything, however, changed on 6 November 2012. The citizens of the United States from Washington and Colorado joined the fray, and I for one welcome them.

Below you will find the most recent global map available from wikipedia on the legality of cannabis. Please pay special attention to the two dark blue areas shown in the United States of America. Expect there to be more.

click to enlarge - Source: “Legality of cannabis by country”