Campaign 2016 and the 420: Marijuana Policy and the Coming of Big Weed

[marmar]

By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Is marijuana a weed, or plant? That is, is marijuana a plant one does not want, or a plant that one does? Is marijuana a plant one wishes to pull up, or cultivate? For many years, public policy has deemed marijuana a weed, while at at the same time a steadily increasing fraction of the public has consumed it, as a plant. Has that fraction increased enough over the last generation to create a public policy tipping point, as happened with gay marriage? As a spoiler alert, I don’t think quite yet — judging by the cautious positions taken by Democratic candidates in the 2016 campaign — but in the same way that gay marriage in the 2000s was a good deal more palatable politically than overthrowing patriarchy in the 1970s, so marijuana as big business will be more palatable to the political class of today than just about anything.

So in this post I’ll assess the tipping point, by looking at usage, and briefly look at marijuana harms, to frame the arguments of marijuana opponents. Then I’ll look at marijuana as an industry business, marijuana and 2016’s candidates, and what sort of public policy might emerge after a tipping point. Finally, I will reconsider marijuana as a plant, which will cast doubt on the public policy the country seems to be moving slowly to adopt.

Marijuana Tipping Point

Marijuana consumption is significant and increasing steadily. From the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 2013:

The nationwide survey…. found that 7.3% of Americans 12 or older regularly used marijuana in 2012, up from 7% in 2011. Marijuana use has increased steadily over the past five years. In 2007, the survey found that 5.8% of Americans 12 or older used marijuana.

It’s only natural, therefore, that support for marijuana legalization[3] would increase with consumption. Pew Research:

Support for marijuana legalization is rapidly outpacing opposition. A slim majority (53%) of Americans say the drug should be made legal, compared with 44% who want it to be illegal. Opinions have changed drastically since 1969, when Gallup first asked the question and found that just 12% favored legalizing marijuana use. Much of the change in opinion has occurred over the past few years — support rose 11 points between 2010 and 2013 (although it has remained relatively unchanged since then).

Live Science has a handy map of marijuana consumption — from experimentation all the way to regular use — state by state:



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http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/09/campaign-2016-and-the-420-marijuana-policy-and-coming-of-big-weed.html

[Stardust]

1. K&R!

[Tsiyu]

2. Love the maps

You go, Vermont and New Hampshah!


Money trumps everything, and will be the final straw, because it's obvious that common sense and mercy are not attributes of the government or corporations.